Inferno
by AmericanWordsmith
Summary: By the time Hope is an adult, Earth has transformed. The world's population is dying from a deadly virus and Hope simply wants to find a way to rebuild her life. Then she meets a mysterious blonde vampire from her father's past: Caroline. Can they work together to build a future worth fighting for? Dystopian/Future AU; post season finales. Shameless Klaroline fic, not Hope-centric!
1. Inferno

" _Some people die just a little. Sometimes you die by the drop. Some people die in the middle… I live just fine on top,"_ Die By The Drop, _The Dead Weather_

 _ **Inferno**_

 _ **1**_

* * *

First the rains had come and, for awhile, it seemed that they would never stop. Hope Mikaelson had only been a little girl during the years of the flooding and it was her memories from that time that were the last she had of New Orleans. Mostly she remembered having to leave their grand mansion, The Abattoir, of which her father still often spoke so fondly. But she also remembered the water coming up high on the banks of her mother's wolf pack's camp. She remembered clinging to her mother as everything was packed up and moved out.

Hope had been born in an unhappy family on the cusp of even unhappier times. Her birth was less than a decade before the first of the flooding seasons. The hybrid daughter of a werewolf and the Original Hybrid himself, Hope didn't remember much of her early life but, when she'd been born they were living in New Orleans. It had apparently been beautiful there — the very portrait of halcyon southern charm.

She'd had a huge family back then, an entire flourishing wolf pack alongside her Original vampire family. Born out of a one-night stand, Hope's mother was never one to remain too close to Hope's real father. She instead chose to live outside the city with her step-father Jackson and the rest of the pack in a beautiful woodsy area called the Bayou. When she thought back to the few cloudy memories she had about Louisiana, it was usually the magnetic, almost magical, scene of the Bayou.

That had been over 200 years ago. Her mother wasn't with her anymore, neither was most of the pack.

It was from the rains and the years of flooding that the virus was born. The rains brought tsunamis. Tsunamis brought contamination. Contamination from a leaked virus research center off the coast of Maryland near DC gave birth to the disease — Carcinoma Influenza or C-Flu, colloquially. It was a mutated virus that manifested its symptoms in the form of a rapid onset cancer. The only way to keep it from spreading was to wipe compromised areas off the map, to burn them clean.

So when the rains finally stopped, they gave way to smoke — the Inferno as history would forever remember it. The air was thick and black and heavy with it all the time. There came a point when Hope could not remember what it had smelled like before the burning. There were days at a time when you could not see the sun.

They'd been forced to move in-land, as the coastline around them collapsed under the weight of rising tides. Asia was out of the question, the disease had multiplied there most quickly of all. Europe was too populated as well so Klaus had decided to stay in America and taken them all to Las Vegas. The deserts, like the coastlines, were seeing the nasty effects of climate change as well. But it was only humans that couldn't survive the horrific and volatile sandstorms that passed through on almost a daily basis. The Original family, and their most trusted friends, were strong enough to survive in almost any environment. They were able to seek refuge in the wasteland of the former City of Lights while the rest of the world and its governments collapsed around them.

At first, supernaturals were nonplussed about the presence of a new virus inflicting the human population. But then, the unthinkable happened. The virus mutated again and it struck the wolves. That was when they'd lost most of the pack. Hybrid status still carrying a wealth of unexpected benefits, she and her mother and father were immune. To date, all vampires still remained unaffected. But that wasn't enough to keep her mother alive in the end.

Wracked with grief, Hope wasn't entirely sure she'd survive the loss of her mother. But death wouldn't come as easily to her — nor would her father ever conceivably allow it to — and she survived. Over the decades she grew, from the smiling innocent baby she was in New Orleans to a young, beautiful Hybrid that looked no older than 25 now, over 200 years later. Everyone said she looked like her mother, the same nose and chin and, of course, the same dark eyes. But she fit in well with her Mikaelson aunts, favoring their coloring and inheriting their long golden locks.

Of course, she never left her hair cascading down beautifully like they did. She was always on the move, always up to something — usually sneaking out of Vegas — so she always had her hair haphazardly tied up on top of her head, secured with whatever objects were at hand.

Right now, Hope had all her hair piled up into a loose bun secured with a scrunchy and old take-out chopstick. When she was sneaking out of their home in Vegas, she made more of an effort to look grungy than put together. Not only did it help her blend in on the streets, it helped her escape from The Luxor. (Leave it to her father to appropriate the most absurd landmark in Vegas as his home, she would frequently think to herself, growing up in the pyramid over the decades.) As Klaus Mikaelson's daughter, she was maybe the most well-known face in the city after Klaus himself, and it frequently made it difficult for her to get away with anything.

Because she was still in only a teenage state of mind, Hope tended to think of her Mikaelson fame as a curse. It was hard to go unnoticed on the street, for example. Nevertheless she was, of course, aware of the bonuses to her privileged family name. The only other benefit afforded to Hope in this new world besides her vampire-immunity and Hybrid powers, was her status as a Mikaelson. The human governments of the world were virtually no longer in existence. Even the witches weren't immune to the disease, their magic unable to save them. As a result, the covens were in chaos as well. Most of the werewolf packs had dissolved. With vampires remaining largely unaffected, being an Original carried real weight in the new world… and Hope was a Hybrid with witch powers, no less. There was a very real chance that one day she might be the only witch left in the world.

Essentially, their family was like royalty. Her father regularly assured her that as long as she stayed by his side, no harm would come to her. Wherever he was, he'd make sure she was treated rightfully as the princess she was. The problem was, Hope had no desire to be treated like a princess. Hope just wanted a life back. She wanted to be able to travel the world as her father had during his first millennia as a vampire. She wanted to _enjoy_ being alive.

Hope adjusted the single chopstick supporting her mess of hair. She was crouching behind some shelves in the now abandoned kitchens of The Luxor. There was a loading dock in the back of the main kitchens where they used to bring in their food shipments and Hope was an expert at getting out of the hotel that way.

She paused to adjust her shorts and tanktop; it was so hot these days, she couldn't bring herself to cover up too much. She also had a couple of bandanas loosely knotted around her neck, with goggles resting atop her head, in case a sandstorm caught her unaware.

After she'd finished adjusting herself, she crouched quietly to listen for another minute. No one was down here right now, she didn't know why she was being so cautious. Klaus — as she often referred to her father much to his chagrin — had grown complacent over the last few days. He was on another one of his drinking benders. The anniversary of his wife's passing had just come and gone. It had been 180 years since Hope had last seen her stepmother. She'd only been a child when she was alive but, she missed her as well.

Unfortunately, she didn't miss her enough _not_ to take advantage of her father's depressed state of inebriation. Klaus was a watchful, _extremely_ protective father and he did not like to let her out without someone with her. Hope, in the past few years, though, had hit her most rebellious stage and she was itching to get out and see the world whenever possible — preferably by herself.

Across the kitchen, something metal abruptly clattered to the floor. Hope's heart leapt into her throat but she didn't visibly jump. She'd been in too many situations before in her life when she'd _actually_ needed to hide and she'd learned to stay hidden well. She shifted only her eyes towards the source of the noise, staying completely motionless. A flash of red hair peeked out behind some pots and pans hanging across the room.

" _Vale,"_ she hissed, suppressing a giggle. "I'm over here!"

There was a soft whoosh and he vamp sped over to her, knocking her softly onto her butt from her crouching position as he leaned over her and enveloped her in a kiss. She sighed into him with happiness, flushing with pleasure. Hope hadn't seen Vale in days. Vale lived out in The Waste — the windiest and most dangerous outskirts of the city, a treacherous stretch of badlands which rogue vampires and witches lorded over, only overruled in the most loose sense by Klaus's reign over what was left of Southwest America.

"Hello," he said with an easy smile once they parted. "I have a surprise for you."

His eyes were glowing with excitement and he looked about ready to burst open waiting to tell her whatever surprise he had. She smiled and pressed a finger to her lips, gesturing that he should follow her outside. Keeping close to the walls and staying low, they made their way over to the doors of the loading dock where they quietly unlocked them and raced out.

Once they were on the streets and several blocks away, Hope could see that Vale was attempting to direct them towards The Waste. She wanted to spend the evening with her boyfriend but, she hadn't been trying to go all the way back to his place. The sandstorms had picked up in their intensity lately and, if one popped up while she was out there, she could end up stuck until late the following day or more.

"Vale, can't we just stay in the city? My dad will kill me if I'm out overnight again," she said. "He's not doing so well right now."

"Don't you want to see your surprise?" he asked, picking up her hand to place an imploring kiss to her palm.

"Is the surprise outside of the city?" she asked skeptically.

"It is…" he replied mysteriously, his green eyes sparkling. Vale was a tall lanky Irish kid who had never completely lost his lilting accent. He'd been turned in his late 20s in the early 2100s to avoid the virus. "The surprise would also be taking us away from the city for more than just one night."

Hope stopped, putting her hands on her hips and waiting for him in the middle of the sidewalk. Damn it was hard to say no to that accent but she needed some more answers from him before they kept going. It was early dusk but the streets were already abandoned for the evening. Infected wolves remained scarce during the day but, at night, they would sometimes flood the streets and _no one_ wanted to mess with them. When packs started getting infected by C-Flu it didn't have the same rapid cancer-growing symptoms that it did with humans. It turned the wolves into something different… something dangerous and feral.

"Alright, as much as I appreciate the effort to surprise me," Hope said, putting her foot down, "I'm _definitely_ not leaving the city until I know what it is."

Vale sighed, looking annoyed but still vibrating with excitement. He turned back to her with a smile.

"Okay, okay," he said giving her a wolfish grin. "Ezra and I got a plane."

"A plane?!" she asked, squealing in excitement. Hope hadn't been out of the state, much less the country, in _years_. Klaus and the family had access to a number of jets and helicopters but, with communication to the rest of the world grossly cut off in the aftermath of the viral apocalypse, Klaus preferred that trips outside the safety of their city be kept as limited as possible. "How the hell did you get a plane?"

"We built it," he said, proudly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder to pull her to his side. "Ezra and I have been collecting all the parts and putting it together since a couple years before I met you. We actually finished it last month but we wanted to give it a few test runs."

"Test runs?" Hope demanded. "You went somewhere without _me?"_

"Nowhere _far,"_ he promised with a sheepish grin. "We just flew out over the Pacific for about an hour and back. Hope, you're not gonna believe this thing. Ezra pulled together a bunch of scraps from an old abandoned military yard out in Cali — this thing goes _fast."_

Ezra was their good friend, a one-time witch who had been forcibly turned into a vampire a couple of decades ago when her coven was struck with C-Flu. Her mother had struck a deal with a vampire, against Ezra's wishes, before the disease had gotten Ezra herself. But, residents of The Waste were quick to embrace the new vampire. The Vampire community was honestly stronger than ever these days thanks to the crumbling systems of the rest of the world. As it turned out, Ezra was extremely suited to being a vampire anyway. She was quick to adapt because she had been born to be a survivor.

"Okay then," Hope said, her smile widening. In the haze of her excitement, she was already forgetting about the family waiting for her back home at the hotel. Her father would be mad at whenever she returned but Hope had never had a difficult time keeping him from becoming _too_ angry. "And where are you suggesting we go?"

"Ah, the best part," Vale replied. His eyes lit up. "Thailand."

Hope swallowed a thick lump in her throat. _Thailand…_ that sounded amazing. She wasn't even sure how much of the country was left since the flooding over 50 years before. But everyone knew Asia was where the worst of the outbreak was and, though Hope and her friends were immune to disease, that didn't make it any less dangerous. She had no idea what the werewolf climate was like in Thailand. Not to mention, most of Asia had been rendered a dangerous waste of anarchy and riots since the virus and the floods and the burning season. The burning season had been particularly ruthless overseas and any survivors left in those parts of the world were forces to be reckoned with.

All in all, it sounded like an amazing adventure.

"My dad would kill me, Vale," she said. "For real this time."

"You _do_ have a penchant for hyperbole, don't you?" he asked. "I can't think of anyone else in the world who can honestly say they don't have to fear Klaus Mikaelson. Do you know how lucky that is?"

"My dad isn't having a great time right now," Hope deflected with an eye roll. "He might not kill me but he'll be pissier than usual."

"Well, that's the best part," Vale said with a smirk, "You might just be able to bring back a present for him."

"What did you have in mind?" she asked. They weren't meandering any more. They were making a direct beeline for his home in The Waste. Vale wasn't an idiot; he'd have known she wouldn't be able to resist this offer, no matter her concerns. Hope hated nothing more in the world than growing restless and she hadn't been let out of Vegas in quite some time.

"You know, we're not the only ones researching for a cure," Vale began to explain. "The base in LV maintains contact with a couple of other spots around the globe… like Chiang Mai."

"Chiang Mai? Is that tonight's destination?" she asked.

"It is indeed. It's also where we might be able to bring back a present for your father…"

"You're just gonna let that dangle?" she asked when he trailed off in silence for a few moments. "Vale, just tell me! What could I possibly bring back to my dad that would keep him from being angry with me?"

Vale laughed at her insistence, "Well, not a _what_ but a _who…_ "he said. "If memory serves me correctly, you have a tendency to do a lot of sneaky research when you're bored. Particularly about your _very_ secretive, _very_ old family?"

"Uh huh…" she said, not at all sure where he was going with this.

"Then I'm sure you _must_ be familiar with this name from dear old dad's past," Vale said, "Caroline Forbes?"

Hope all but stopped in her tracks at that. Yes, the mysterious Caroline Forbes, the woman her father had apparently pined over for the past two centuries without ever seeking her out… no one would explain to her why, though her Aunt Rebekah and Uncles Elijah and Kol clearly knew the reason. Hope had never spoken with her father about Caroline but she'd seen her, in her father's studio. He painted and drew portraits of her and kept them hidden but, Hope was pretty sure she knew where he kept everything he thought was secret.

But though she was an expert at uncovering her father's secrets, that didn't always bring her any closer to understanding his true emotions. He was an extremely guarded man, though he did his best to be a demonstrative and loving father with her. She considered them to be close but… Klaus was just the kind of father that would always seem like he was holding something back.

Truth be told, there were many times she could remember throughout the decades where she'd watched her father grow forlorn. It didn't seem to be because of the apocalypse around them, the world falling apart. Sometimes it was for her stepmother but not always. No, sometimes Klaus would grow depressed in a way more difficult to pin down. It was during these times that Hope had always grown most curious about the enigmatic blonde vampire from Virginia who had apparently stolen her father's typically guarded heart and then disappeared from his life forever.

"Caroline Forbes?" Hope asked, immediately intrigued but also highly skeptical. "What makes you think we could get her to come back to LV with us? My father hasn't seen her since before I was born. Hell I don't think they've even _spoken_ to each other since I was born. For all I know, they hate each other!"

"They don't," Vale said, immediately.

Hope quirked an eyebrow.

"What do you know that I don't know?" she asked.

"Look, ever since Ezra and I started getting close to finishing the plane, she started talking about taking a trip to the other research bases working on a cure. It's a whole flight across the pacific but Chiang Mai is actually the closest," he said. "We've been talking to them and researching this trip for months, it's not a spur of the moment decision."

"And why am I _just_ finding out about this tonight?" she asked.

"Because I wanted it to be a surprise!" he insisted. He cracked when she gave him a pointed look. "Alright _and_ because… if you had known about it, you would have wanted to be helping out all the time. We couldn't risk having you down at The Waste too often. If your dad found out… he'd want control over the whole thing."

Hope rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't agree with their reasoning… it just hurt. For every opportunity and privilege her family afforded her, the fear her name carried would always weigh on her relationships.

"Anyway," Vale continued, "Talking to them via radio these past few months, someone mentioned the name Caroline Forbes. She works there. And, the thing is, we've been talking to them about sending someone back to Vegas with us. We've been going over our research and, let me tell you, they're way ahead of us there. We need someone to come back and improve the work we're doing, why not Caroline?"

"Sure, why not. Except you still haven't told me why you know they're not on bad terms," Hope said.

"I didn't recognize the name when we first heard it," Vale explained. "Ezra did. When she did she started asking some questions. Apparently Caroline's been there for a pretty long time now. They clearly don't know about her entire history with Klaus but Ezra asked if Caroline had ever mentioned him. Your dad's _"thing"_ with her is practically an urban legend, Hope, everyone knows about it."

"Yeah because Klaus Mikaelson doesn't just let the people he cares about go off to live life as they please, without a single call for two centuries," Hope said. "It's weird. I don't understand what went on with them."

"The people we've been talking to in Chiang Mai say she's never said a bad word about him," Vale said with a shrug. "I feel like that's as good a sign as any. Plus, she's been working with them for over 50 years… she's obviously dedicated to finding a cure. When we tell her how much we need the help, I'm sure she'll come back with us."

"I don't know…" Hope said but it was a cursory note of worry. The truth was, the possibility of finally getting to meet this mysterious Caroline and put together the last puzzle piece of her father's history was even more of a tempting offer than traveling to Thailand itself.

"And if worst comes to worst, you had a great trip to Thailand and your Dad doesn't let you out for a couple weeks," he said, nudging her with an elbow.

"More like a couple months…" she said with a groan. "But, alright. I'm in."

He jumped ahead of her only to whirl around so he was standing in front of her before grabbing her by the shoulders and pressing a fierce kiss to her lips. She stood up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck.

Pulling apart with wide grins, their attention was diverted by something shifting in an alley next to them. It was past dusk now, getting genuinely dark. The few spots around the city that still got power had lonely fluorescent and flashing lights turning on, a troubling reminder of the city's former glory days. They turned towards the alley were a sickly human was crawling on all fours.

The woman, more creature than human now, was vomiting. Her body was riddled with disturbing lumps, evidence of the quickly growing and multiplying tumors all over her form. When she saw them, she didn't even bother to hide. Though vampires couldn't catch the sickness, infected humans weren't particularly edible. Their blood tasted acrid, like batter acid, and typically made you extremely ill for several days.

The feral, practically rabid, werewolves that were infected, though, were drawn to the scent of sick humans. It was partially why the disease had mutated and begun to affect packs — they were strangely drawn to the scent. Seeing an infected human meant infected wolves wouldn't be far behind, not as the impending cloak of night crept ever closer. Those feral wolves — practically zombies if you asked Hope — weren't something she ever wanted to deal with, regardless of whether or not they were in wolf form.

"Alright, lets get out of here," Vale said, "The dogs will be out soon."

They linked their hands and sped out of the city and back to Vale's home in The Waste.

* * *

Another sandstorm had hit them, as they were racing outside of the city. It used to be rare for sandstorms to hit at night, even if it was early in the evening, but as the planet grew warmer, the weather grew more unpredictable.

The Waste was only five or six miles outside of the main strip of vegas, a quick trip at vamp speed. But the fierce winds of the Nevada desert were not a force to be trifled with and they'd ultimately been forced to duck into an abandoned gas station before they finished their trip. As the wind picked up, they both pulled down their goggles over their eyes and their bandanas up around their faces before ducking into the small store of the gas station and situating themselves between the looted shelves as dust poured in through the broken windows around them, turning their skin a dusky red colour.

Luckily, it had only lasted half an hour at the most. Lately the storms could go for over a day at a time and neither one of them particularly wanted to be stuck in an old gas station quite that long. When the winds finally died down, it was pitch black out. After wiping off their goggles, though, their vamp senses quickly kicked in and they could see in the dark once again.

"Alright let's head out," Vale said to her, "Hopefully the plane wasn't outside when that hit. Ezra will never get the dust cleaned out in time for us to leave tonight."

They entwined their fingers together again and continued racing towards The Waste. They were only a mile off or so now and Hope could see the make-shift town looming in the distance as the approached. Nevada was _flat_ and you could see out over its vistas for miles at a time.

Even miles away, it was clear why The Waste had been given its name. Vale's small hometown looked like a shanty town from the 1930's Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. The whole town was a series of makeshift tents and boarded up shacks and, occasionally, pueblos built out of the same sand that the town rested upon. Sand from the recent storm was still mugging up the air around them so any windows built into tents or shacks were still soundly boarded it up but people were already milling about the alleys of the town, assessing if their was any damage.

"The lights are on in Ezra's tent," Hope pointed out, gesturing towards their friend's down a slim alley between rows of tents in the desert. The wind was still gusting around them, causing Hope to pull her bandana back up around her mouth as they made their way over to the tent.

Once they got their, Vale pounded a hand on the side of the tent.

"It's us, open up!" he called.

The tent opened up and a young vampire with long dark black hair and a septum piercing in her nose stuck her head out.

"Holy Hell, you two are filthy," she called out. "You're not coming in. One sec, let me grab my goggles. I'll meet you at the hanger!"

With that she zipped the door to her tent back shut leaving Hope to look towards her boyfriend quizzically.

"Hanger?" she asked. "Since when do we have an airplane _hanger_ out here?"

"Since always!" he replied cheerily, "Come on!"

Speeding off, he lead her to some sandy dunes several hundred yards out from the tented living area of The Waste. Hope spent a lot of time out here but… in the _town,_ not out amongst the dunes. As such, she was surprised to find him taking her to a rock face outside the town, with a huge metal garage door built into its face. Vale approached the door where he punched in a code into a keypad. The metal door began to raise.

The hanger was make shit at best. It was clearly a cave they'd found but rigged up with a generator to supply electricity for lighting and to install the door. Inside the cavern, Hope immediately spied the plane as they entered. It was clearly made from military parts, but a mishmash of whatever pieces they could get their hands on.

"We call her Frankensteina," Ezra said, approaching from behind them. "Isn't she beautiful? I was able to get my hands on a lot of parts from some old MiG-50's at a base in California. We can get to Thailand in about five hours, maybe less."

Hope approached the plane, patting a hand on its left wing appreciatively.

"Hmm, nice plane but…" she began, "It needs more plaid."

Ezra let out a hoot of laughter at Hope's reference to that ancient television program to which her friend was referring — _Mystery Science Theater_. One of the greatest losses most people found themselves weathering through since the apocalypse was the sudden lack of entertainment. With few places still able to supply power, the Internet was obviously no longer available. Most people didn't even have access to old televisions or computers on which to watch famous films or television programs anymore.

But Hope had Klaus Mikaelson for a father. The man, an artist himself, was fiercely in support of his daughter having access to whatever form of art she desired — fine films, classic music, or good comedy. Hope, still a teen at heart despite being over 200 now, favored comedy from any era.

"When do you think we can go?" Vale asked. "We've already lost an hour."

"How about right now?" Ezra asked. "I know it still looks windy out right now but, not for this thing. This plane can handle _a lot_. I built it that way."

"If you trust it, I trust it," Hope said. She didn't know anyone better with fixing or building things than Ezra. "Let's get going! It won't be too long before my dad comes looking for me."

Ezra let loose a wide grin at that.

"Alright then, let's load up!" she said. "We're off to Thailand in T-minus 10 minutes!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **So, I've started a second Klaroline fic! I promise my readers of** _ **Demeter's Daughter**_ **that I will still be updating that fic as frequently as I have been. I'm excited about both of these plot-lines so I don't foresee a problem keeping them both going at the same time.**

 **About this fic:** **(SPOILERS FOR THE MOST RECENT SEASON FINALES) Obviously this is AU in the future, specifically 205 years… let's just say the recent seasons for both shows left me so disappointed that I basically just wanted to jump far ahead of what the show writers are doing and get on with a plotline that involves Klaroline. Again, this IS Klaroline centric, not Hope centric. I will need some Hope-POV time to give a good understanding of my post-apocalyptic setting but this is still meant to revolve around Caroline. I already revealed that Hayley has died, but** _ **how?**_ **Who's still here and who else has died? What happened in New Orleans and who the heck was Hope's stepmother? Are the Salvatores still around? All will be revealed! It's gonna be a fun story with lots of twists. Follow if you're excited!**

 **RATING** _ **may**_ **be bumped up to M in later chapters for violence and / or sex. Warnings will be given in advance.**

 **And if anyone is intrigued, even in the slightest, please review to let me know what you think! Absolutely every ounce of my motivation to update comes from reviews. :)**


	2. Exodus

_"Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice." -_ Dante Alighieri, _Inferno_

 _ **2**_

 _ **Exodus**_

The storm had finally died down enough for them to leave around 8 pm. Because Chiang Mai was over a day ahead of them, they were chasing the future as they traveled and jumped through time, figuratively speaking of course. Ezra called it jet lag but Hope called it wonderful — a symptom proving that she'd broken free of the cage that was Las Vegas.

In the centuries she'd been alive, she'd been on a plane only a handful of times, back in the late 21st century. Since then, though, Klaus had kept her contained to Vegas for her safety. She ran off frequently enough but, only as far as a car or her legs could take her — a stronghold against the virus in Salt Lake City or out to Santa Fe which was now abandoned and in ruins. This would be the first time she'd left the continent in over a century.

The flight had taken five hours, so when they arrived it was already the next afternoon in Chiang Mai, 3 pm. Hope had slept through the day in a five hour flight and both Ezra and Vale were looking groggy as they began to circle around to land the plane.

"Christ, would you look at this mess?" Ezra had commented, over half an hour away from their destination. The air was already thick with black clouds of smoke.

It wasn't easy work. Chiang Mai was a mess of the heaviest smoke Hope had ever seen. Their burning season, to wipe out the disease, apparently went year-round. Vale had woken her from several miles off the coast to put on a mask. None of them particularly needed to protect their lungs as vampires but, it certainly made things slightly more pleasant. The smell of smoke was pungent for the last 20 minutes or more of their trip and, by the time they were searching for where to land, they could barely see anything.

"Get someone on the radio!" Ezra called out to Vale as the engines of their plane began to clog while she had zero visibility. "How does anyone ever get to this place?"

"They don't," Hope responded grimly. "My father told me Asia is abandoned. The virus has gotten too bad."

"Your father is just trying to keep you in the house!" Vale replied as he fumbled with the radio in the plane.

Before either Hope or Ezra could snap at him, two blindingly bright beams of light burst forth through the flames. Against the black smoke the powerful spotlights were like beacons. Hope had no idea how anyone had even seen their jet amongst the smoke to know to hail it down.

"Thank God," Ezra said. "They must have freaking radar set up! They're guiding us in!"

From there, it was relatively smooth sailing. Smoke was clogging the engines far more than Ezra or Vale had anticipated when building the plane and it stalled, terrifyingly, in mid-air a couple of times before they finally landed.

When the plane landed, a sudden loud fan noise startled the three of them. They had to cover their ears, it was so loud but, through the windows, they could see the smoke beginning to clear ever so slightly. The sun _almost_ peaked through for a second but then, giant metal doors were sliding over top of them like the opening to a giant hangar roof.

"So much for no one living in Asia anymore," Hope said, sourly. "They've got a _really_ legit set-up here!"

"Are you surprised?" Vale asked. "Your father _never_ tells you the full truth!"

"And neither do _you,_ apparently," Hope immediately responded.

Hope _hated_ the animosity between Vale and her father — particularly given the fact that she was almost sure that Klaus didn't even _know_ about Vale. Thus, the hatred was only on Vale's side. While anyone in their right mind would be afraid of Klaus, Hope was _serious_ about Vale. That ultimately meant he'd need to face her father at some point. The fact that he made no effort to hide his obvious disdain for the man, despite never having met him, made Hope worry that he wasn't as serious about her as she was of him.

When Vale didn't answer Hope's jab immediately, Ezra pressed ahead instead, trying to break the tension.

"Alright, let's make some friends!" Ezra chimed in, using a sing-song voice before opening the bottom hatch door to their plane. She turned off all the controls and the three of them exited the plane with their masks hanging around their necks.

They took in their surroundings first. They were in a massive old sports arena, the kind that was so large its roof could open and close for sunny or rainy games. No one had used these things for actual sport in a _long_ time. Most of them had been burned to the ground, others sunk into the sea. The former turf of the field was long gone and had been replaced by a huge expanse of concrete.

Ahead of them, high above in the top tier seats in the stadium, they could make out people bustling around the old glass booth where the announcers and scorekeepers sat. It appeared that they were using it as a makeshift air traffic control center. People were stepping out from the box now, one of them stopping to wave excitedly from high up. Hope mimicked the gesture. Then, they were all vamp speeding down from the control center to the ground level to introduce themselves and, simultaneously, revealing them all to be vampires.

"Hi! My god, we can't tell you how _happy_ we are to see you here," a girl in a green jacket gushed, the same woman who had waved to them before.

Beside her stood three other figures, two men and another woman. One of the men stood closely to the first girl and they looked very similar, even in how they carried themselves.

This first male vampire stepped forward with a hand outstretched, "I'm Hayato and this is my sister, Michiko-"

"Call me Ko!" she interrupted, brightly.

"Now which one of you is Ezra?" Hayato continued.

Ezra stuck out her hand for an immediate firm shake and Vale directed his attention towards the siblings as well. Next to them, though, Hope couldn't help but abjectly stare at the remaining two vampires who had yet to introduce themselves.

The other man wasn't so interesting; some pseudo-thug with a military weapon strapped to his back, probably just to look impressive. Hope could have cared less who he was.

But, beside him, stepping up to meet them last, was a woman Hope recognized well. She was the woman she'd seen in Klaus's secret portraits in his studio. This was Caroline Forbes and, she was holding Hope's gaze steadily, evenly, and unblinking.

"Hope?" Vale asked, interrupted her thoughts. "Hey… are you going to introduce yourself?"

He was looking down at her quizzically, not understanding what had caught her attention so intensely. Hope composed herself and turned back to the new group with a bright smile. She looked to Caroline first as she held her hand out to the blonde.

"Hope _Mikaelson_ ," she said, searching for _any_ discernible reaction. "Pleased to meet you."

Caroline's expression didn't change in the slightest. She accepted Hope's handshake with an easy demure smile.

"Caroline Forbes," she responded before dropping Hope's hand and turning to shake Ezra and Vale's.

Upon hearing her name confirmed, they couldn't help but exchange uncertain glances with one another. Hope could have slapped them for being so obvious about it but, across from them, Caroline betrayed no sign of noticing anything out of the ordinary.

"Caroline basically runs the whole research center here," Ko explained, tone still laced with barely reigned in excitement. "She'll be able to answer any questions you guys have!"

"We look forward to it!" Hope responded, her eyes still carefully trained on Caroline.

"Well, we're anxious to hear what you're working on back in the States, too, of course," Caroline replied, pragmatically.

It was strange for them to hear it referred to as _"the States."_ No one had thought of it that way in some time. Hope tended to think of her home solely in terms of Las Vegas.

"There's not much to tell, I'm afraid," Ezra said. "From everything Hayato and I have discussed, your research is _far_ ahead of anything we've been working on."

"In any case, we're glad to have a new source of information for what's going on elsewhere in the world," Caroline said. "But we won't get into that now. First you'll need a tour and then I'll show you were you'll be staying while you're here. Follow me, we'll be taking the tunnels out."

"The tunnels?" Vale questioned behind them. Hope held back a laugh. She could hear the childlike wonder in his voice. Vale maybe had the biggest sense of adventure of all of them.

"The whole city is underground now," Ko explained excitedly next to them as they followed Caroline across the floor of the old stadium. The final man, with the gun, brought up the lead. Apparently he was just there for security duty, after all.

"Infection between the humans and wolves has been too bad for decades now for anyone to risk staying in the old city," Hayato confirmed. "Not to mention, as I'm sure you saw when you arrived, most of the area is continuously being burned. At first it was an effort to contain the virus, now it's just gotten out of control. We haven't had a rain season in _years."_

Caroline was opening a hatch door from beneath a section of stadium seats. They looked down the hatch to be met only by a ladder leading into infinite darkness.

"Take the rear," Caroline instructed to their guard. "I hope none of you have a problem with heights."

Without waiting to hear their response she vamp sped down the ladder.

"After you," Hayato gestured to Hope.

Ready to continue this adventure, Hope sped down without a second thought. As she made her descent, it grew brighter. And when she finally made it to the bottom of the ladder, Hope gasped in shock at the sight that met her.

They were standing on the metal platform of an old miner's staircase within a deep network of caves and caverns. But built into the massive rocky underground chamber was an entire, brightly twinkling city. It was another bustling shanty town, not unlike The Waste in Vegas but clearly more high tech and far more highly populated.

And because the cavern extended hundreds of feet above them — as well as below them, at certain incredibly treacherous portions of the cave network — the city was built on top of itself for several stories. Tiny homes were stacked on top of tiny homes, some made out of wood and others built straight into nooks in the rock-face or caves themselves. It was an elaborate system, apparently connected mostly by ladders but also a few suspended wooden bridges, as well.

They'd clearly done their best to turn it into a home, a real place with culture. Paper lanterns were hanging from all the bridges and outside most homes. People had old flags from former nations hanging out periodically. Someone was actually managing to somehow grow some sort of foliage in long winding tendrils around a ladder to their home, even all the way down here with no sunlight.

Maintaining culture: This was something the community in The Waste had done too. Hope was always attracted to places like these; they were so much more welcoming than the sterile environment her father had created for them at the Luxor.

Following shortly behind them were the rest of their party. Vale let out a long appreciative whistle and Ezra said a breathy, _"Wow."_

Caroline looked back to them with a proud smile.

"Welcome to Chiang Mai," she said.

* * *

Unfortunately, Caroline had made excuses to step away almost as soon as they'd set foot in the underground city. Ko assured them she wasn't being impolite and that it wasn't unusual. Caroline apparently almost always had business to attend to around here.

It was giving Hope a sinking feeling in her stomach. If Caroline was essentially running this whole set-up, how on Earth would they ever be able to convince her to return to Vegas with them? What if she didn't even get another chance to speak with her before they returned home? She couldn't come _this_ close and not figure out the truth to this last chapter of her father's history.

First Ko and Hayato had taken them to their temporary lodgings, a couple of rooms a floor below their own apartment in one of the towering wooden bungalows built into the cave walls. When you looked out of the window, you could see one of the deepest stretches of the cavern opening up into a vast unending darkness below you. It was unsettling but Ko promised that they'd "get used to it _super_ fast."

After they'd dropped off their stuff, Hayato said he'd take them to get something to eat. Ko had insisted they walk by the labs on the way so they were first led to a tunnel out of the main cavern of the city. Making their way through the dim tunnel, they passed several guarded security check points. As guests they even had to _sign in_.

It occurred to Hope that she hadn't seen such an official set-up in a long time… maybe _ever._ If this was all Caroline's creation, she was apparently an impressive force. No wonder she'd caught Klaus's attention. Had she been this way all those years ago?

Finally they'd ended up in another large cave where a makeshift military bunker had been set up, replete with sturdy hazmat tents, weapons, tanks, and people milling about in protective hazmat gear and helmets.

"We're not going to take you inside today," Hayato explained, "So you won't need to suit up. We just wanted to show you how to get here. We'll be spending a lot of time here tomorrow."

"Why _is_ everyone suited?" Ezra asked. "Vampires can't catch C-Flu."

"Right but we can transmit it," Ko said. "Vampires aren't the only creatures living down here."

"Wolves?" Hope asked. She hadn't seen a healthy werewolf in decades. It made her heart ache to think of her mother and pack.

"Wolves, humans, witches…" Ko replied. "You name it. That's not the case back in Vegas?"

"Hardly," Vale answered. "Vamps and wolves, everyone is either infected or long dead."

"Wow, we had no idea it had gotten so bad over there," Hayato said with discernible disappointment. "Come on, we can keep talking after you've had something to eat."

* * *

Caroline hadn't truly had business to attend to when she excused herself from attending to the newest group of visitors. No one had told her that Klaus's _daughter_ would be coming today. She'd only known about some kids named Ezra and Vale. Hell, she hadn't even known Klaus was in Vegas at all! She'd been making a very concerted effort _not_ to think about Klaus the past couple of centuries. And, dammit, so far, she'd been pretty successful.

Her stomach was in knots as she stormed up the winding wooden stairs to her apartment in one of the smaller caves in the rock walls. She pushed aside the heavy purple cloth curtain covering the door to her home.

"Hey! I didn't expect you to be back so soon," a female voice said, pleasantly. "Did they get here okay?"

"Oh _they're_ fine," Caroline responded to her roommate. "Just not sure _I_ am."

"What's the matter?" her friend asked.

"Ridley," Caroline responded, flatly, "You're not going to believe who showed up."

Ridley was none other than Ridley _Bennett_ , a young, orphaned witch and a great-granddaughter of Caroline's old friend Bonnie. Though she was five generations separated from her grandmother, it didn't feel that way to Caroline. Caroline had been watching over Bonnie's descendants all these years, never able to stand the thought of leaving them alone to fend for themselves. They'd been cursed with bad luck generation after generation and Caroline felt it her duty to protect them as much as she could.

"Who showed up?" Ridley asked.

Caroline flopped down onto the sleeping palate she had set up for herself in the corner of their cave. It was piled high with pillows, making their meager living situation appear _somewhat_ more sumptuous and homey. She grabbed one of her pillows and buried her face into for a second to let out a long groan. Then she turned back to Ridley.

"Hope Mikaelson," she answered.

" _Mikaelson?"_ Ridley asked in surprise. "As in…"

"As in _his daughter_ ," Caroline replied. "Klaus's freaking daughter! And what's the icing on the cake? I get the _distinct_ feeling that he has _no_ clue she's here."

Caroline had recognized the girl as soon as she'd laid eyes on her. At first glance she was almost identical to Rebekah Mikaelson. After looking at her for a few seconds longer, the prominent features of Hayley made their way through. And, last but not least, anyone who had survived this long to look at Hope would also see her father. Hope had inherited her father's blonde coloring and full lips. If Caroline had been as young as she was when she'd first known Klaus, she would never have been able to disguise her shudder.

"Does Hope know who _you_ are?" Ridley asked.

"My god, she's not even being discrete about it," Caroline replied. _"Yeah_ , she definitely knows who I am. She's all but lording it over me. Seriously, she looks _just_ like his sister Rebekah. It's uncanny… but I think I can see her mother in there too."

"Oh come on," Ridley said. "It can't be that bad. What has she got to lord over you? It's been two _centuries_ and Klaus has let you be all this time. He's got nothing over you anymore! No one here would let anyone mess with you even if they tried, anyway."

"Yeah, that's true," Caroline considered. "I hope you're right, Ridley. But if there's one thing I'll never stop keeping in mind… it's that you can never let down your guard around a Mikaelson."

"Well, _I_ want to meet her," Ridley said. "I mean, _imagine_ what she could mean for our research! Half-hybrid and half-heretic? What could her blood tell us?"

" _Don't_ even start thinking about that," Caroline warned. "This is Klaus Mikaelson's _daughter._ If anyone tries to use her as a lab rat, he'll kill them. No second thoughts. Not to mention I don't think she counts as a heretic. They have to siphon their magic and, as far as I know, she just performs magic like a regular witch."

"Yeah but if we have her _consent-"_

"No buts," Caroline interrupted, firmly. "Don't push me on this."

Ridley rolled her eyes. "Well, I still want to meet her," she said.

"Yeah, you will," Caroline said. "I wouldn't mind your perspective on all this. Not to mention I need a buffer. I'm not interested in Hope cornering me to ask any questions unless I'm well and ready to answer them."

"Ten-four," Ridley responded with a serious salute. "Buffering conversations is one of my greatest talents."

Caroline laughed before standing from her bed.

"Alright," she said. "Let's get this over with. We're going to need to meet them for dinner soon."

* * *

Sitting at a round table in an ornately carved cave, Hope was surprised to see Caroline enter the room followed by a young human. Her friend was clearly a powerful witch, magic radiated from her. Hope had always had a good sense of other people's abilities and this witch probably wasn't even fully aware of her own enormous potential.

"I trust you all were able to get settled in and had a nice tour," Caroline said as she took a seat at the table, the farthest one from Hope.

"Well, there's still a lot more to see," Hope called to her from across the table. Caroline didn't even meet her eyes. Instead, the other blonde picked up a pitcher of blood at the table and poured herself a goblet. She then passed it over to Vale who accepted it thankfully.

"We'll be happy to show you more tomorrow," Hayato told her graciously.

"With the outbreak so bad here, how do you have access to all this clean blood?" Ezra asked taking a long sip from her own drink.

Across from them, the Chiang Mai vampires exchanged uncomfortable glances.

"We don't…" Caroline answered softly. "You're our guests. The first people we've seen from outside of Chiang Mai in a long time. We wanted to host you well."

"My gosh," Hope exclaimed. "You didn't have to do this for us!"

Caroline quickly suppressed her first thought — _I doubt your father would agree with that sentiment._

"Please don't worry about it," Ko pressed. "We're just glad to have you here."

"The truth is that we give out more of _our_ blood than we get safely in return," Hayato continued.

"Give out?" Vale asked. "Why are you giving out blood?"

The young witch finally spoke up, "Vampire blood helps ease the pain in patients who have newly contracted C-Flu. It's also been known to slow the progression of the disease in some studies."

"Oh, please excuse me," Caroline interrupted the witch's explanation. "Ezra, Vale, Hope… this is my dear friend Ridley Bennett. Doubtless you've noticed she is a witch."

"Charmed," Ridley said, cocking an eyebrow at them suspiciously.

"A witch working with vampires to find a cure," Hope commented affably. "You'd fit right in back at our base."

"Base makes it sound a lot more official than it is," Vale immediately jumped in, embarrassed. "What we've got set up is nothing like you guys have here."

"I'm sure you all have made some important progress," Ko said. "The fact that we're both working towards the same goal is all that matters."

"Besides," Hope said. "You're talking about what you all have set up at The Waste. You haven't seen what we have set up back at The Luxor?"

"The Luxor?" Ridley asked.

Hope grinned, pleased as could be to be asked to explain further. She was watching Caroline closely.

"It's a building on the main stretch of Vegas," Hope explained. "It's where my father rules over the city. We have some better labs set up there than we do in The Waste. My father is just very… _particular_ about who he invites into his home."

"Your father?" Ridley asked, so Hope couldn't drag out this game any longer. "You mean Klaus Mikaelson?"

"Yes, Klaus is my father," Hope responded.

Ko and Hayato were exchanging nervous looks and keeping an eye on Caroline for a reaction. She kept her face guarded but she did finally offer a reply.

"Yes, well I'm sure your father's facilities are suitable," was all she said. "We can go over the specifics of what you have available and I can send you back with plans for how to proceed and improve."

"Yeah, about that," Hope interjected. "About our going back, I mean. We were thinking-"

Vale kicked her under the table and, as he did, a couple of new people burst through the door to where they were having their dinner.

"Ko, you've got to get up to control," one of them said. "Someone is incoming and every time we get them on the radio, all they do is insist we clear them for landing and guide them in. We have no idea who they are, no other flights were scheduled as incoming today."

Ko and her brother rose instantly, practically in tandem, to rush out of dinner and head up to the stadium. Hope had a sinking feeling her stomach. At the other end of the table, apparently Caroline had the same feeling as well because Hope heard her mutter under her breath.

"Speak of the devil and in he walks," Caroline murmured. She certainly had not been prepared for _this_ today.

* * *

 **Post-apocalypse is a very natural setting for me to write with these characters. Whenever very old vampire characters come onto a show, I inevitably think about how those same characters will also be around for centuries to come and may very likely see the end of the world. That's a big part of why I'm writing this fic; it's also because the show has set up the Klaroline plotline to potentially just** _ **not**_ **happen before everything ends so… I obviously had to do something about that. Like, if Plec leaves us all with a big old "Klaus said he would be her last love. Caroline's last love will be a long time after the show ends," (DON'T DO IT JULIE!) at least having written this fic will make me feel better.**

 **Thanks to everyone who followed or reviewed, particularly to any readers that came over from** _ **Demeter's Daughter**_ **. It's so great and flattering to know that their are readers who appreciate my writing enough to give a completely different plotline a chance.**

 **A couple people have mentioned that they're on board with this story because they like my future characterization of Hope. That's another big part of this story… I think part of the reason that Hope seems like such a big obstacle for Klaroline right now is the fact that she's a baby. But Hope is immortal. She'll grow up and maybe be awesome and maybe fit right in with the Klaroline love story! Hence all the OC's as well. Not all of these OC's will stay major characters but, obviously this far into the future there will be new faces. More familiar ones popping up soon! Who is everyone hoping to see?**


	3. The Descent

" _Who knows how long I've loved you? You know, I love you still. Will I wait a lonely lifetime? If you want me to, I will," -_ The Beatles, _I Will_

 _ **3**_

 _ **The Descent**_

As it turned out, the base in Chiang Mai wasn't the only location to have air traffic control equipment. Klaus Mikaelson had been running his own on a solar powered generator connected to everything they might need ever since they'd settled in Vegas. Nothing ever picked up on it, of course. No one was around to fly anymore. His own, extremely infrequent trips out of the city, were the only reasons he even needed it. But, that evening, it had picked up something.

Klaus was usually well aware of when Hope was sneaking out. She was good at it but, not as good as she thought. Her fatal flaw was that she underestimated how much she thought like _him_. Klaus had a knack for predicting her because she made similar decisions to his own.

So, when she'd clearly snuck off after excusing herself from their early dinner the previous day, Klaus hadn't really thought much of it. Hope was a brilliant fighter and she knew Vegas better than anyone; he genuinely trusted her to handle herself. Not to mention, no one in the city would ever be daft enough to try to harm her. He also knew that she was running around with some _boy_ , which irked him to no end. Freya and Rebekah, though, had ultimately convinced him that he'd be stirring up far _more_ trouble if he forbade her from seeing the boy.

But then, his air control equipment had picked up that signal. A plane was _leaving_ Las Vegas and Klaus could just _guess_ who was on it.

He'd known they'd been working on the plane for months; Klaus had good spies out in The Waste. He mostly kept his distance from the ragtag group of vampires out in the desert, as they were focused on finding a cure while his only concern was survival. Nevertheless, no one in the area would challenge his authority and, though he'd been content to let them have their little project, now he needed to insist upon a favor.

Freya had accompanied him to The Waste, lending her extraordinary witch powers to quickly subdue the remaining covens that were part of the community and leave the vampires clutching their skulls in agony as Klaus demanded to know where his daughter had been taken and who she was with.

Shortly after, he'd begun loading up his own private jet to Chiang Mai, accompanied this time by Rebekah. Rebekah always had a way of playing the _cool aunt_ and getting Hope on her side, so Klaus felt like she could be an asset for the trip. Besides the two of them, half a dozen armed guards joined them, all hybrids and all fiercely sired to him. Klaus — and Hope for that matter, who had been the one to offer up her blood to turn them — had not only saved them from their wolf curse, they had saved them from ever needing to worry about catching the disease.

As far as they knew, even Original Hybrid blood couldn't do anything to save a wolf who'd already been infected. They'd tried — time after fruitless time. But, if they were turned to Hybrids while still healthy, their new vampirism would prevent them from ever catching it in the future. Over the years they'd offered the option to several dozen worthy wolves from packs around the world. Today, those same hybrids would be willing give their lives for either Klaus or Hope… sire bound or not.

Klaus never would have guessed that he'd be willing to use Hope's blood to create hybrids and, for a very long time, he _wasn't_ entirely comfortable with the practice. But, it turned out that Hope had inherited a great number of his traits — a wise eye for good planning among them. Hope realized early on, through the death and destruction of the apocalypse, how valuable an army of hybrids would be to her and her family's survival. She'd wanted to use her blood to secure their safety without a second thought. But, beneath her level head and survival instinct, compassion played a role in her decision to help create hybrids too. After watching her mother's pack be ravaged and dissolved by C-Flu, finding worthy wolves to save from the affliction had become a sort of passion project for Klaus's daughter.

Thus, the hybrids accompanying them were as genuinely concerned about Hope's well-being as Klaus could hope for from his army. They didn't know what kind of situation they'd be walking into when they got to Chiang Mai. Klaus got brief and occasional cursory updates about the condition of the rest of the world every few years or so. As far as he'd heard, all of Asia was in continuous flames — a never-ending burning season and a literal hell. This couldn't still be true, though, if Hope and her friends were heading to Chiang Mai now. They must have had some reason for the risky trip… likely _new people._ If he was going to be heading out to face off against people he'd never met before, he was going to need back-up.

"I know you want me to keep the cool head on this trip, Klaus, but I'm just not sure I can," Rebekah lamented while pacing up and down the aisle of their jet. _"I'm_ furious with Hope as well! How on Earth could she even consider doing something as dangerous as this?"

"While I appreciate the fact that you can commiserate with me, dear sister, I believe you've stolen my side of the conversation," Klaus replied from the co-pilot seat. He was keeping an eye on the hybrid he'd put in charge of the flight. "I'm supposed to be the one ranting and raving and _now_ is the part where you tell me to relax because she's just going through her rebellious teenage phase."

Rebekah plopped down into a chair in the rows behind him with a sigh.

"She _is_ just going through a phase," she answered. "Gods, Nik, can you imagine if we'd been kept pent up the way she has during our first few centuries? We wouldn't have been able to handle it. The patience to stay put and stay safe is a maturity you have to _learn_ as a vampire. No one is born with it."

"Nevertheless, intelligence should have prevailed in this situation and she should have heeded my word," he said. "I've told her a thousand times that all that's left of Asia are the fires. And it appears I was right."

For the last half hour or more, the same black smoke that Hope and her friends had flown into just a few hours earlier was now assaulting Klaus and Rebekah's plane. The inky black air around Klaus's jet was making him worry even more. Their equipment hadn't picked up the presence of any other aircrafts yet. Klaus had no idea how well-trained in flight Hope's friends were, either. What if they had crashed? She could be down there right now, lost and alone in the fire...

"Sir, we're picking up signals from below," his pilot told him. "Coordinates are marking us as immediately over top of the city and radar is picking up the presence of electronic equipment below. Whoever,or whatever, is down there, they have electricity."

"Turn on the radio," Klaus ordered.

The pilot flipped the switch on their radio and the sound of broken static filled the cabin. Then, the noise began to clear and a distinct signal began to come through. A voice rang out.

"This is the Chiang Mai base requesting information from your unidentified aircraft. Chiang Mai to an unidentified aircraft. Please identify yourself, I repeat, please identify yourself, over," a female voice called out in fluent Thai. The message was repeated two more times, first in Chinese and then in English.

"Request permission to land," Klaus told the pilot.

"Chiang Mai base, requesting permission to land. We request permission to land, over," his pilot responded in English.

"We cannot grant permission to land without identification, over," the female replied.

His pilot looked at him in confusion, asking what to do next. Klaus suppressed a growl and rolled his eyes before motioning for the headset attached to the radio. He snatched it out of the pilot's hands and quickly appropriated it for himself.

"Look, you fool," he spat out. "You all have _my_ daughter down there. If you don't guide me in right now, I will land wherever I can and walk through the fire to find you and _kill_ you. Do you understand?"

He didn't get a response right away. But, in under two minutes, two blindingly bright search beams appeared in the black smoke surrounding them. He wasn't surprised. Doubtless, as soon as Hope had arrived they'd realized he'd be quick to follow. The Mikaelson name was still famous everywhere, after all these years. And, further, it was still famous for its legacy of fierce familial protection.

They followed their signals to a landing pad in the middle of an old, abandoned sports arena.

" _Dad…?"_ Hope's voice began to question from the other end of his radio. _"Look, I'm perfectly fine so don't hurt anyone, okay? I'm coming out now."_

Klaus was ready to growl out his first threat of punishment to his _more_ than careless daughter but then, suddenly, above them, a massive roof closed. As it did, the smoke that had been clogging their visibility in the jet was quite suddenly swept from the area. They were finally able to take in their surroundings — derelict seats in a long-abandoned sports arena, maybe an old football field.

His pilot pressed a button that lowered a hatch in the bottom half of the plane so they could all walk out to the concrete arena they'd landed in. The radio had shut off after Hope's message so Klaus hadn't had time to respond — or begin to reprimand — her. Instead, he grabbed his gun full of wooden bullets and walked out. Two of his hybrids sped out to walk ahead of him, just in case, and Rebekah was close on his heels.

Stepping out onto the old arena, they could see the old field's astroturf had been replaced with straight concrete. Klaus looked ahead of him where several people were speeding down from the air traffic control box the radio signal had come from to where he stood. From the bleachers in the arena, he could tell that Hope was one of the people speeding towards him.

She arrived in front of him first, with a few people behind her. She was breathless and anxious as she faced him.

"Dad, look, let me explain. I-" she began but he promptly cut her off.

"Hope, no arguments, you are going to get on my plane _now_ and we will return home," Klaus immediately spat at his daughter upon seeing her approach with wide eyes. "You are grounded for the next _century_."

"We actually need to refuel—" his pilot began but Klaus immediately interrupted him.

"Then Hope can very well _sit_ in that plane until we are fully ready to leave. And you can be _damn_ sure that you won't leave my sight for a split second," he growled.

Hope didn't look the least fazed; she just looked exasperated. Granted, she was quite used to Klaus's attempts to discipline her by now and she wasn't easily put in place. Especially not when she was secure in the knowledge that she possessed the upper-hand.

"Dad, wait, there's someone you should-"

"Hello, Klaus."

The voice that came from behind Hope made Klaus's heart lurch into his throat. He hadn't thought anything could distract him in this moment but, immediately, his angry eyes left Hope to look behind her in bewilderment. Walking up behind Hope was none other than Caroline Forbes.

"Caroline…" was all he honestly could get out. He had never been taken so by surprise before in his life. He even heard Rebekah gasp quietly behind him.

Hope had to immediately suppress a smile. Oh, this was _good_. She'd never seen her father wear such an expression before: surprised and self-conscious and hopeful all at once. Klaus was _never_ self-conscious but, here before this blonde vampire that no one had seen for two hundred years, he looked like a boy about to ask a girl to prom.

"Caroline," Rebekah chimed in from next to Klaus, whose jaw was still planted firmly on the floor. "Well, we certainly didn't expect to run into you on this trip. Am I to understand I have _you_ to thank for convincing my precious niece to abscond to Asia?"

"Hardly. We've been planning to host Ezra and Vale for months now. I didn't hear a word about Hope joining them until she arrived earlier this afternoon," Caroline responded immediately and firmly. "I honestly didn't even know your family was in control of the Vegas base."

"We're not!" Hope interjected, "I mean… _they're_ not." She looked towards her family, helplessly, where Klaus's eyes finally left Caroline's to flash dangerously at his daughter. _"We're_ not," she corrected a final time. "My family runs Las Vegas but that's it. The only people who have _ever_ made any concerted effort to keep in touch with the other bases around the world are Ezra and Vale and their team. It's their neighborhood in the city, called The Waste. _They're_ in charge of the Vegas base."

"While that's certainly an _interesting_ description you've chosen to employ, Hope," Rebekah interceded for her brother, who was clearly too overcome with feelings, both of rage towards Hope and shock at seeing Caroline, to articulate much of anything, "But perhaps if you took more care _not_ to do or say the first thing that crosses your mind, we wouldn't be in _this_ situation right now."

"I understand that having your child leave you in an unbearably stressful ordeal," Caroline spoke up, again. "Trust me, I have experienced it that torment myself, with a _far_ less relieving outcome. Let me assure you that as long as Hope was simply bound for Chiang Mai, we would never have let her come to any harm. We take care of our own here."

Klaus simply balked in quiet response to that revelation. Had Caroline had _children?_ Surely she didn't mean…? Vampires had _never_ been capable of reproduction. He'd heard she'd been married, of course — and to bloody _Salvatore_ no less — that bit of news back in 2023 had been a particularly hard punch in the gut to bear. Honestly, when he'd first heard about it, it was _more_ than part of the reason he'd made his own decision to wed less than a year later.

There were abundant rumors that her marriage to Salvatore had ended some time ago, though. And there had certainly never been mention of an adoption.

"Of course you wouldn't have harmed Hope," Rebekah replied pragmatically, in lieu of her _still_ speechless brother. "You're well aware of the kind of hell my family can bring when you cross us."

" _Ignore_ that," Hope pleaded. "It's all bluster, I swear. They're just making a point."

" _Try me!"_ Rebekah hissed, making an aggravated step towards Caroline.

"You'll have to get through _me_ , buddy," Ridley said, stepping up from behind Caroline and Hope to emerge fully for the first time. Her power was radiating from her as she prepared to protect Caroline if need be. "The fact that you're an Original doesn't scare me, you won't _touch_ Caroline."

"Oh, you think I've never handled a _witch_ before, huh?" Rebekah spat at her new confronter. "Wrong bet, honey, I used to _be_ one."

This time, Klaus stepped in. He halted his sister with an abrupt hand in front of her torso, sending her stumbling back a few steps. Klaus was eying the new Bennett witch stepping up to them suspiciously but Ridley was unperturbed and addressed him.

"Besides, regardless of the fact that Caroline has a proud history of respecting and looking out for any other survivors on the planet — pack, coven, or human history aside — no one here is in nearly as much danger as you're suggesting, Klaus," Ridley said. "Caroline has been building our base here from the ground up for over 60 years. We're well established and we're extremely safe."

If any part of what she had just told him reassured him even in the slightest, it didn't show. In fact, it hadn't entirely registered on his features that he'd even been listening to Ridley. He was still just staring at her suspiciously, as if he was trying to figure something out.

" _Bonnie…?"_ he breathed out in a quiet question. Then he cocked his head with a smirk and let out a low growl. "It can't be? A doppleganger?"

Caroline rolled her eyes and didn't even bother to strike a protective stance though, the smirk on the Original's face alone was enough to get her guard up.

" _Hardly,"_ Caroline replied, easily. "I'll admit she does look a lot like Bonnie but you just don't remember. They're not identical. This isn't an Elena and Katherine situation."

Klaus locked his eyes with hers again, before giving her yet another searing once-over that was half-laced with almost uncomfortably obvious lust and half disbelieving.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Trust me," Caroline replied, her tone stoically masking the hurt she still felt after all these years. "She was my best friend."

Caroline still carried the loss of each member of Bonnie's line as a heavy burden. Bonnie had led a tough life and, after helping her friend weather great loss, she had vowed to take care of the family as long as they needed her. She often masked the pain of her losses in her work, building the base and helping the community — and now searching for a cure — but beneath the non-stop work it was plain to those close to her that she was unhappy.

In truth, Klaus was already getting some sense of this. Caroline _technically_ looked exactly the same as when he'd last seen her — beautiful, lithe, and light… in the woods — but there were telling differences about her. He could see that she wasn't a baby vampire any longer, she held herself with more maturity and innate confidence than she had when she was younger… which was saying something considering how confident she'd been back then.

She also looked exhausted. Not many would have been able to tell how weary she was but, Klaus had known Caroline when she had the boundless youthful energy of a new vampire. Back when she'd had her team of friends beside her in Virginia, Caroline had always looked like nothing could beat her down. This Caroline looked like she had been beaten. Many times.

 _But,_ she had clearly rose from the ashes in radiance each time because — here in this moment — Caroline looked as jaw-droppingly stunning as he had ever seen her. And he suspected that was because, for once, he was meeting her when she was entirely in command of things. There was no answering to Elena Gilbert here.

Rebekah had backed off a few paces behind him and, after a _"let me handle this"_ sort-of look from Caroline, Ridley stepped back as well. Content that the drama was well contained once again, he turned to keep his gaze level with his daughter's and Caroline's. The two blondes were standing side by side in almost identical postures, facing him with confident eyes. It was a bewildering sight, one he previously couldn't have even imagined.

"Hope, regardless of the apparent safety that awaited you here, your actions were unacceptable and you have in no way escaped punishment," Klaus growled. "But, Caroline, I do thank you for keeping her safe until I arrived. Please excuse my sister for her hostility, she was merely concerned for my daughter's well being. Of course… I trust you with Hope. And I am not displeased that you have met."

Everyone felt the weight of that short speech in the air around them. The resonance of Klaus's almost vulnerable admission was palpable.

Caroline was almost shaken by her own reaction to it; no one had been that honest with her in a long time. Many people had that much faith in her — the whole of Chiang Mai did, really — but a lover never truly had. Lack of faith had ultimately been one of the reasons behind her ages old decision to divorce...

And, now, Klaus was also looking at her with the kind of ardor she hadn't seen in decades. She had been too busy, too focused, and too hurt for a long time now to even _think_ about physical intimacy or dating. As a result, it had been… _a while._ And Klaus, unsurprisingly, looked as rugged and undeniably dashing as he always had. To see him here, now, with every ounce of his attention focused wholly unto herself — well, it was enough to make something very noticeable warm and quiver within her.

"Neither am I," Caroline deflected quickly, with a noncommittal smile. "Hope and her friends are all welcome guests here. We're excited to learn more about how you've been operating back in the States. We'll be happy to help you refuel but you're welcome to stay for awhile if you'd like. It's not often these days that any of us get to interact with new people—"

"—Not to mention _old friends_ ," Klaus interrupted, finally seeming to have shaken his initial shock. He was now regarding her much more confidently, laying on his signature thickest charm _just_ as she used to remember him doing in Mystic Falls. What would he do if he knew exactly how often she'd thought of those times over the years?

"Right," Caroline replied easily, with a congenial smile that didn't betray everything that was fluttering madly inside of her. "We'd be happy to host you."

"Well, now that I'm aware we're in the company of friends," he said, stepping up towards her with open arms. "We'll be happy to stay."

He pulled her into him for a full embrace without hesitation. Out of surprise, her immediate response was to go rigid but, the moment she realized how squarely she was pressed into his firm chest, she allowed herself to acquiesce. _God_ she remembered his scent. It was only brief. For the sake of at least appearing decent, they parted almost immediately.

"Just a few days," Rebekah asked. "Right?"

"Of course," Klaus responded. He didn't even bother to look at her. His eyes were still locked with Caroline's.

"Well then, allow me to show you to the city," Caroline replied and began to lead them away from the hanger.

"Why are we going further into the arena?" Rebekah asked, looking back towards where she thought the exit out of the stadium had been.

"Did you _not_ see the smoke and fire outside when you flew here?" Ridley asked with a cocked eyebrow. "You don't really think anyone still lives out there, _do_ you?"

"So… where do you live?" Rebekah pressed as they continued to walk.

Caroline, Ridley, and Ko exchanged bemused glances.

"You'll see in just a second," Ko said, inserting herself into the discussion for the first time. "In the meantime, allow me to introduce myself!"

* * *

And, of course, they were awed by the twinkling underground city of caves that awaited them. Caroline was well-aware of the almost utopian refuge she'd created for her base here in the caves. She had no idea what it was like in Vegas. She hadn't seen the city since the 21st century so, in her mind, it was still preserved as Sin City — party heaven, or hell. So, she had no idea how bad the dust had become. Or what the heat was like. She had no idea what the cool and dim caves felt like to these visitors. It was almost like finding heaven.

But despite her ignorance of the kind of desolation the Mikaelsons had left behind in Vegas, Caroline was proud of what she'd created. She always would be. So, when she faced Klaus at the entrance of the cave's, it was with an almost daring tone.

"This is Chiang Mai today, we've relocated the entire city underground-" Caroline cut herself off when she saw someone speeding towards them from the front of the city.

Two of their Parameter Guards promptly arrived in front of them at the main bridge to the city. They were out of breath and looked concerned.

"What's going on?" Caroline asked immediately, pulling one of them to the side so she could address them privately. Judging by the worry on their faces, they had a report that Klaus would doubtless try to exert his own influence on. Klaus had a tendency to maintain authority over _any_ situation he even minutely considered to be a threat. But she be damned if she'd let that be the case in her own city.

"The rabid wolves," the Parameter Guard told her immediately. "They're coming up from the lower caves. They must have caught the scent from the new tests you're running in the labs. We're going to need call in the Stand-By Militia."

"Alright, Ridley and I will follow you back," she said. She gestured over to Ridley who was at her side in an instant. "Ridley, they'll carry you back and I'll meet you back in a moment. There's a problem with the wolves."

Ridley nodded, apparently used to the routine by now, and promptly hopped up on the back of one of the Parameter Guards. As one of the few witches in the city, she frequently got fed up being the only one incapable of vamp speed. At this point in her life, she was completely used to the Chiang Mai vamps speeding her around whenever she and Caroline needed to be somewhere quickly. Without further instruction the guards sped off with Ridley towards the city and left Caroline to address her new guests.

"I'm sorry but something in our labs is going to require my attention for the next couple of hours or so. Ko will show you to where you can stay while you're here," Caroline told them, most specifically addressing Klaus. "You'll meet her brother Hayato, too. I'll meet you all later for dinner. I'm sorry that I can't give you a tour myself right now..."

"Anything we can help with, love?" Klaus asked in a congenial tone that didn't do anything to hide the sharp eyes he'd been watching her with since the guards had arrived with their news. Knowing Klaus, he'd doubtless been able to hear their conversation and was now just waiting to see how she'd handle the situation.

"We'll be fine but thank you for the offer," she said with a firm smile, indicating that no one should push her on the matter any further. "We'll be as quick as we can. Ko? You'll be alright?"

Ko eyed the famous Mikaelsons warily but ultimately nodded. "Of course, you go," she said.

And with that, Caroline sped across the bridge into the city and down to the lower system of caves — the rabid wolves' den…

* * *

 **So I know the intro where Klaus finds out Hope is missing and has left Las Vegas was a bit short but, honestly spending too much time on that scene would have prevented us from getting into the thick of the main plot sooner. We'll get to see more of the life Klaus has established for himself in LV soon enough but, at this point, the main focus should be on what Caroline has achieved in the past two hundred years —** _ **a lot.**_

 **Sorry for the delayed update; I really want this fic to be well-crafted. (I say that feeling so bad about how late I am that I ended up steamrolling this chapter past my beta — sorry shout out to you too, titieli! — so I do apologize for any copy editing errors!) With surprises from the past popping up, I need to map things out very carefully. Chapter 4 is already about halfway done and reviews are always the fuel I need to finish out a chapter as quickly as possible! ;)**


	4. Through the Gates

" _When it is darkest, men see the stars." -_ Ralph Waldo Emerson

 _ **4**_

 _ **Through the Gates**_

"Well, follow me then," Ko said gesturing her head back towards the bridge into the city that Caroline had just sped over herself. "We're in no rush so we'll just walk. It's the best way to take in the sights."

 _Ah and what a sight it is,_ Klaus thought to himself as they all began to follow behind Ko. If Caroline had really built this place from scratch over 60 years ago she'd done a stunning job. The magnificent Chiang Mai underground almost looked like a real-life bustling city from the old days. Structures as high as skyscrapers were built far into the highest points of the underground cavern. And within the rocky walls of the caves themselves intricate pathways, staircases, and bridges between buildings and other caves had been painstakingly carved.

She must have employed city planners or even architects, Klaus supposed as he began to survey everything from the bridge they were traversing. Many of the large apartment complexes were beautifully designed and intricate carvings were abundant on most of the buildings. Graffiti was frequent too, Klaus discovered, as they walked closer still to the city. But the graffiti didn't appear to be a vandalism problem; it looked like it was encouraged. It wasn't even really graffiti, Klaus decided after pausing a moment to really look at some of the work. The art lining the outsides of people's homes and the walls of the caves were really more like murals than graffiti.

"This place really is amazing," Erza spoke up from behind them. They were now approaching the main gates of the city which, though heavily guarded, swung open without prompting the moment they caught site of Ko.

Since Klaus's arrival both Ezra and Vale had maintained steadfast post by Hope just in case she needed their support but, both had been easily intimidated into staying silent upon first catching sight of the enraged Original Hybrid leaving his jet. Now that his mood had apparently made a turn for the better, though, Ezra was content to get back to the main reasons behind the trip — meeting new people, exchanging information, maintaining new lasting connections between cities, and working on researching the cure.

"We love it here already," Hope echoed. "I know we haven't even spent the night yet but… your base is just so _different_. You all have lives here! Real lives with culture and community. Back in Vegas we're all still so focused on survival that we haven't had a chance to settle in and start building a real home again. The burrough out in The Waste is little more than a…"

Hope looked to Ezra and Vale for guidance on the right word. She didn't want to insult them, particularly given the fact that, as long as she lived under her father's roof, she had easy access to art and culture and luxury whenever she liked. The Mikaelson's just had no plans to share the rest of that wealth with the remaining vampire community in Vegas. _'He's not a King, he's a dictator,'_ Vale would often say of her father. ' _At least good Kings would rule to help their people. Dictators only rule to help themselves.'_

Luckily her internal struggle only showed enough to prompt Ezra to quickly supply a term for her.

"A shantytown," Eza said, finishing the sentence. "What we have set up back in The Waste is little more than a shantytown. It's not an insult, it's just true. Frankly we may never be able to set up more than what's out there now… the windstorms just get worse every year."

Vale had a knack for picking up on even the most subtle of Hope's emotions and, right now, she was experiencing guilt. Klaus could have made a much more concerted effort to clear the colonies of infected packs and humans from the remaining buildings along the former Vegas Strip. Most of the buildings were derelict now but, they managed to keep the Luxor in near pristine condition. The Mikaelson's had more than enough resources to turn Vegas into a thriving Research Base and move everyone out of The Waste entirely.

The problem was, Klaus's main concern always had been and likely always would be protecting himself and his family. His rule over Vegas was only leadership in the most loose sense — mostly everyone just knew better than to mess with the Mikaelsons. Other than doing what they were told when they were told, the vampires of The Waste made every effort to stay off the main strip and stay out of Klaus's way.

Hope may have felt guilt over the whole scenario but Vale felt rage. Vale could not empathize with Klaus's position; he was unwilling to understand Klaus's need to protect above all else. Some part of Klaus _must_ have cared about rebuilding the world again… Hope did, after all and what father didn't want to help his beloved daughter achieve her dreams? But perhaps those were traits she'd inherited from her mother, whom Vale would never get the chance to meet.

With a glance to her side, she found Vale glaring daggers into her father's back. Hope was grateful for the fact that, at this moment, her father and aunt's backs were to them as they followed the city paths further ahead. She put her hand to Vale's forearm, giving him a pleading look. _Not here, not now,_ she thought to herself. This would be the first time Vale and her father met. If she could just convince both of them to get along for her sake…

"Well, if things ever get too bad out there, I know Caroline would be open to negotiating a potential relocation effort," Ko explained as she began leading them in and out of alleyways between buildings, some of them leading them back into narrow cave passages. Hope had no idea how anyone could live here without getting lost. "We find new networks of caves down here almost every day. Expanding the city is one of the next steps we'd like to take to improve the base here. It's just a matter of securing the new caves, getting them easily connected back to the main cavern, and then diligently mapping them out."

"Sounds like a lot of work," Rebekah commented as they continued to push their way through a narrow crawl space within the cave walls. "Is expanding really that necessary?"

"Saving as many people we can — witches, vampires, or any of the few remaining uninfected humans and wolves still left — it's critical to both our survival and our research effort on finding the cure to C-Flu," Ko said. "And expanding the network of caves systems we can use isn't really that difficult. You guys have only seen the main cavern of Chiang Mai. That's just the entrance to the city. Granted it's also the largest cave system we've found yet but we have _a lot_ more down here. We've connected and mapped out so many different systems that, at this point, we've got it down to a routine. Connecting more systems to the main city is maybe just a two month project at this point."

"And Caroline is leading all of this? Building the city, expanding the cave systems, researching the cure, maintaining contacts with other bases throughout the world… that's all Caroline?" Klaus asked but, he almost didn't have to. He already knew the answer. He had only ever known one genuinely humanitarian-minded vampire in his life that _also_ had the planning and leadership skills to accomplish something of this magnitude and it was Caroline.

"It's all her. She's really saved us all, we wouldn't be here without her," Ko confirmed. "And you've really only listed maybe a fourth of her job description there. She's our unofficial Mayor and our unofficial Commanding Officer. And it's only unofficial because she gives herself far less credit than she deserves and finds the titles of Mayor and Commanding Officer to be pretentious."

"Commanding Officer?" Klaus asked. He had to take care to hide the note of awe that was pressing at his tone. "She's established a military?"

"Uh, well, more like an extremely small but very effective volunteer militia. The guards who met us at the bridge because they needed her attention on something, they were Parameter Guards. They patrol the areas of the cave systems that we haven't completely secured or mapped out yet. We also have a Stand-By Militia in case the city parameter is ever breached," Ko explained.

"Breached?" Rebekah asked. "It's nothing but miles of fire above us, who could possibly even try to get in without your help guiding a plane?"

"There's no one outside, of course," Ko said. "No one can live in the fires. And it's true that it would be difficult to land in the arena without our guidance through the smoke but… there are threats from below too."

With that Ko cast a nervous glance out over one of the deep caverns a few hundred feet away from them. They'd emerged through the cave tunnel back into another alley leading them back to the main stretch of the city.

"Sorry we had to squeeze through the caves back there," Ko said. "I wanted to take a shortcut."

"Wait one second now," Rebekah pressed. "Threats from below? You'll have to be a bit more specific."

Ko smiled in an almost patronizing way. _Newbies_ , her expression seemed to project her thoughts about the Mikaelsons.

"I wanted to take a shortcut so I could get you back to where you'll be staying while you're here," she continued, addressing Rebekah kindly. "I thought you'd like to get settled in. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have but you did _just_ arrive."

"Thank you, you're quite right," Klaus said, answering for his sister. Ko was obviously a trusted friend of Caroline's and he wasn't about to go out of his way to make a bad impression quite yet. "We would like to get settled in and I'd quite like a few minutes to speak with my daughter. After that, we should all sit down at talk. Perhaps Caroline will be able to join us by then."

He'd said that in the most laissez faire tone he could muster but Ko wasn't buying it. She was openly smirking at him because she knew _damn_ well how much he would want to see Caroline again. Caroline had only ever told anyone a very little bit about the nature of her relationship with Klaus; other than that, she was notoriously tight-lipped about the subject. But everyone else new just from the legendary rumors that surrounded their relationship. It was said that he'd flown into a rage when he'd first learned of her marriage. He'd become secluded after that and no one had heard much of him since the apocalypse other than he now ruled what remained of the Midwestern portion of the former States.

"Alright, well, follow me up these back stairs," Ko said, dropping her smirk to get back to business, "I'll show you to your rooms and come fetch you in a few minutes to keep touring the city."

She led them up a several stories high climb up wooden and rope ladders to the same cave bungalows where Ezra, Hope, and Vale had deposited their things earlier. Before they'd even arrived to the apartments, Klaus had requested rooms below Hope's to ensure that she would not be able to sneak back down the towering cave walls past him later that night.

But, when they'd arrived, Klaus immediately decided that they would not be staying in these particular accommodations. The apartments within the caves were, in his opinion, the epitome of squalor. In fact, the rooms were much more inviting, protecting, private, and livable than the conditions in The Waste outside of Vegas. Klaus had simply made a point of only residing within the luxury of The Luxor so long that he had no clue how bad conditions had really become.

Currently, though, he didn't plan to address the issue. Right now, he simply needed to speak with his daughter.

"Thank you for your help," Klaus said, abruptly turning to Ko. "I trust you'll show the rest of my party to their rooms and we'll see you soon. I just need a few minutes with my daughter."

"Of course," she replied and Hope saw that she looked hesitant to leave her alone with Klaus. The thought almost made her laugh aloud. Sure, Klaus was intimidating to the rest of the world but she had always had the upper hand with her father. She was well aware that she was the one thing he loved unconditionally.

The hybrids that had accompanied him as guards filed out of the apartment behind Ko to find their lodgings. Klaus was left alone with his sister and daughter as well as her two traveling companions. He didn't waste anymore time before laying into her.

"Hope, not only have I forbade you from leaving the city without my consent, you chose to visit one of the most dangerous parts of the remaining world," Klaus raged. "And all because of that _boyfriend!"_

Hope flushed and her eyes widened in surprise. "You know about Vale?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"Of course I bloody well know about Vale, Hope! I know everything! I even knew they were building the goddamn plane, I just never thought they'd be foolish enough to put _you_ on it!" her father answered before turning to Ezra and Vale. "Which reminds me, I've been content to let you all play your little games in The Waste long enough now but, if you keep involving my daughter I might just be _forced_ to intervene."

"Your daughter is a grown woman, Klaus!" Vale responded, harshly. "She should be allowed to make her own decisions without fear of repercussion from her father."

 _I should also be allowed to speak for myself, for that matter,_ Hope couldn't help but think to herself. But before she could voice an objection, Klaus had vamp sped over to the boy and had him pinned to the wall by his neck in a second.

"Don't you ever dare to speak out of turn to me again, _boy,"_ he spat. "Hope's favor is the only thing keeping you alive right now but mark my words if you _push_ me."

"Stop!" Hope exclaimed. "Dad, let him go!"

With a growl, Klaus dropped the young vampire who was still glaring in return. Rebekah was rolling her eyes in the corner and pacing around the caves, looking at the sleeping mats set up on the hard floor with disdain.

"I think she gets the point, Nik," Rebekah said. "For now, what are we going to do about staying here? I vote we don't and we go home but, somehow, I doubt that's an option…"

"When that girl returns I'll demand to see Caroline," Klaus assured her. "Surely the Commanding Officer of the last major city in Asia will have more suitable accommodations."

Ezra and Vale exchanged another noticeably annoyed glance. They had both been enthralled by the homey living spaces people used here in Chiang Mai. They were certainly an upgrade from the tents and cabins built from spare scraps that barely held against the windstorms in Vegas they came from.

Klaus though, of course, was still too wrapped up in his own concerns to even notice their derisive glances. He whirled on Hope once again.

"And one more thing! Hope, _who_ told you about Caroline Forbes?" Klaus demanded, "And _what_ do you know?"

"I learned about Caroline myself, Klaus," she began, loving the fact that her father would subtly wince _every_ time she called him by his first name. It was only a joke, a test to see how long he'd put up with it before saying anything but, at this point she'd been doing it for years and he'd never addressed it. "You know, you don't exactly keep whatever… _thing_ you guys had hidden well. I've counted at least 30 portraits of her in your private studio. That's one or two every decade since you've seen her."

Internally, Klaus had to sigh in relief. At least Hope didn't know he had a great many more than thirty.

Also internally, Hope had to keep from laughing again. She was well aware that Klaus had painted and sketched _a lot_ more than 30.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"Everything," she chanced immediately. It was a boldfaced lie but she had to take a chance. Unfortunately, he didn't buy this one.

"We'll discuss this later," he told Hope, "When we're truly in private. For now, lets just focus on finding a more suitable room."

* * *

Disturbingly, the lower caves they'd been tracking the wolves back to the past several weeks were empty by the time Caroline and Ridley arrived with a good dozen militia members by their side.

Going into uncharted cave systems was always nerve wracking; particularly given the fact that they didn't have electricity running out to these areas. Rabid wolves and the few infected colonies of humans that had managed to survive beneath the surface all these years — as well as the other dangers lurking, things no one had ever encountered until they'd started living underground — didn't need electricity. But, even with heightened vampire sentences, the all-encompassing darkness of the underworld was even something foreign to Caroline and her team.

The caves they approached were especially creepy then, given that they were clearly a recently vacated ghost town. From the fresh remains scattered around the former den, it was obvious that the pack had _just_ made their escape. Who knew where they were now? Why had they been spotted near the border of the main cavern of Chiang Mai anyway?

It was like the wolves had _known_ they were coming after them. But wolves infected with the disease didn't think that way. The rabies-like symptoms prevented higher level cognition. Rabid wolves couldn't plan, they didn't have critical reasoning...

Nevertheless there was nothing remaining and no one for them to find when they arrived. The caves had clearly been lived in and then hurriedly vacated but, that was about it. So Caroline ordered a few members of her team to survey the area and get a read on where the wolves had run to now. In the meantime, she and Ridley would catch some much needed downtime before they had to see Klaus again.

If Caroline said that she hadn't been surprised at her own reaction to seeing Klaus, she would have been lying. So, apparently, she was being dishonest with herself because she was steadfastly maintaining that she was wholly unaffected by his appearance.

The truth was that she'd lost her breath at the site of him. She'd forgotten how attractive he was, particularly when he was on the hunt for something he wanted — in this case, securing his daughter's safety. But seeing his reaction to herself had been most startling of all. Perhaps Klaus was simply used to Hope's rebellious nature these days but she never would have guessed that _anything_ would distract Klaus Mikaelson from a mission to bring his daughter home — least of all herself.

But there was no denying it, the moment he'd heard her voice it was like a switch had flipped in him. He'd gone from infuriated to bewildered in seconds. And that alone, from the typically unflappable Klaus, was enough to remind her just how much of an effect she'd always had on him. After all these years, it hadn't waned.

"They're going to want someone to go back with them," Ridley said when they finally were able to sink into the cushions lining the floor of their home. "You know they are. That's the whole reason the first group of them came here anyway — to exchange our knowledge on curing the disease."

"Let me guess," Caroline said, taking a seat at their kitchen table, at least glad that her friend hadn't immediately started in on Klaus. "You have a very definite opinion of _who_ we should send?"

"You bet your ass I do!" Ridley replied, completely straight-faced. Caroline let out a short laugh at her friend's vehemence but Ridley was not to be deterred from her speech. "It should obviously be _us!_ Things here are more secure than they have ever been. Ko has had this ship sailing smoothly practically on her own the past 10 years, if we're being honest. It's time for us to pack up and save another part of the world."

"I'd hardly call _this_ part saved," Caroline responded with a heavy sigh. "The infected wolves are missing again but constantly sniffing around our parameter when we do see them. It's not safe; we need to contain the situation. Not to mention we still have so much research we need to keep working on _here."_

"You knew we weren't going to find a cure overnight," Ridley replied. "And the _only_ reason you've even been able to buckle down on research these past few years is because Ko's got the city under such good control. If we want to do what's best for our research next, we'll collaborate with another base. You heard what Hope said about her father's labs."

It was true. Caroline's interest had been peaked by the promise of pristine and modernized working conditions. Nevertheless, it struck her as strange that _Klaus Mikaelson_ had anything to do with the cure effort. _Then again, maybe not,_ she considered. With the spread of the disease, his reliable food source had dried up along with every other vampire's in the world. Perhaps he just wanted to rebuild the population so he could feed again.

Caroline was about to express her distaste at the idea of relocating to Las Vegas when Ridley interrupted her one final time.

"And don't even _pretend_ you're hesitant because you've got some kind of problem with _him_ anymore," she chided Caroline with a knowing grin. "Whatever you had against him in the past is _in the past_. You know it. You've told me before that you never expected how time could erase things for vampires. But whatever you actually _liked_ about the guy is very clearly still there."

Caroline couldn't help but blush furiously. She was caught. Either the Bennett witches had a special intuition about her or she was just extremely transparent. She suspected it was a bit of both.

"And what makes you say that?" Caroline asked in reply, tersely.

"Maybe that… _one_ : I know you haven't gotten laid in about _four_ years," Ridley started, wagging an unapologetic finger at her friend.

Caroline gasped in faux-outrage and narrowed her eyes at the girl.

" _Excuse_ me?" she demanded. "And how do you know _that_ exactly?"

"Please, honey, we're roommates," she deadpanned. _"Two:_ Even that time fout years ago, that was just _one_ of many, many, _many_ one night stands. _You_ haven't been serious about anyone since… _the husband."_

"Ugh, you know I don't like that word! Alright," Caroline held up her hands in concession. "I'll admit to that one. I haven't been serious with anyone since my last marriage. But you know very well that is for _a lot_ of reasons. And that doesn't necessarily mean anything about Klaus either."

"Sure it does," Ridley said with a cheeky grin, "When Klaus is the only one _since_ your ex that you've hurriedly slapped on some lipstick and mascara for! I present to you, point of evidence number _three:_ you're wearing make-up! And you hadn't been wearing it before you found out that Klaus was showing up."

Caroline groaned internally. It was true. Back in Mystic Falls she had the time to enjoy being young and pretty. She'd loved getting dressed up and primping with her friends and going to dances. But then everything had changed and, suddenly, no one was ever thinking about things as trivial as make-up anymore, much less dances.

But, as soon as they'd all received the message that Klaus was incoming to find his daughter, Caroline had hung back a moment from the rest of the group. She'd ducked aside to pull some long unused make-up stashed into the bottom of the backpack she lugged around the caves with her. Only once she'd finished touching up, had she raced back up from the caves to wait with the others. She had sincerely hoped that none of her friends from the base here a Chiang Mai would notice. She'd only put on a _little._

 _But of course everyone noticed,_ she thought almost bitterly, _Nothing I do around here goes unnoticed. That's the price of founding a city and then running it for over half a century, I guess._

"Hey, there is _nothing_ wrong with wanting to doll yourself up for an old flame," Caroline said. "Everyone does that!"

"Except for you for another, aforementioned, old flame," Ridley countered.

Caroline groaned again and let her head bang against the kitchen table where she sat, melodramatically. It was true that whenever her ex husband visited she didn't make too much of an effort to dress up; the feelings between them were long buried now, what would have been the point? What did Ridley want her to say?

Fortunately, Ridley broke her embarrassed silence with some much needed levity.

"Hey, Care, I can't say I blame you," she told her friend. "You've only told me a little about Klaus but, in all this time, you never thought it was _pertinent_ to mention what a _hottie_ he is?! I mean, I know it's been four years for you but it's been less than two _weeks_ for me and even I was feeling a little weak-kneed at the sight of him!"

Caroline was about to look up and laugh loudly at that declaration when a sudden cough from their cave's entryway broke up their _very_ private conversation. Ridley looked mortified. She and Ridley exchanged wide, nervous glances before Caroline finally called out.

"Who's there?" she asked.

"It's, um, me, Ko and… your new guests…" the girl answered timidly from behind the threadbare curtain that sealed off their doorway. Caroline would have smacked a palm to her forehead in frustration if she hadn't been sure everyone outside would hear it.

Instead, she called out "Oh! Come in!"

Ko pushed aside the curtain and entered with Ezra, Vale, Hope, and finally Rebekah and Klaus behind her. Almost everyone looked awkward to be caught in this situation, particularly Ridley who was flushing a brighter red than Caroline had ever seen on her deep complexion. The only people whose expressions differed were Rebekah, Hope, and Klaus's. Rebekah looked smugly superior after hearing the conversation they'd just walked in on. Hope was openly smirking, looking like the goddam cat that had caught the canary. But Klaus was actually just looking around her apartment with sharp and critical eyes.

"I'm _really_ sorry to interrupt, Caroline," Ko explained, "I was going to take them to meet Hayato and keep touring the city. But Klaus insisted that I show him to, _quote,_ our 'best rooms'."

After catching the tail end of Ridley's little speech about how attractive he was, Klaus had been prepared to enter Caroline's home wearing his signature smirk. But, upon entering the _very_ humble dwelling, only to be met by almost identical accommodations to the ones they'd just rejected. So, as he surveyed the rooms, his expression morphed into a frown.

"I told him all the apartments are the same," Ko explained. "But he was very persistent."

"Our best rooms?" Caroline asked quizzically, genuinely confused. She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Klaus, "I'm sorry, are you mistakenly under the impression that this is some sort of hotel?"

Klaus opened his mouth to reply, shocked at how quickly and easily she could _still_ put him in his place without batting an eye. But before he could answer, Ko had steamrolled him in a fit of nervous anxiety.

"I can take him back," Ko said quickly, "They did want to bring all of their things though—"

Caroline held up a patient hand to slow the girl's already long-winded explanation. Ko had a habit of going a mile a minute when she was nervous. And Klaus's effortlessly domineering attitude was making Ko more of a wreck than Caroline had ever seen her.

"Ko, it's fine. I understand what Klaus can be like when he needs to have his way," Caroline said, choosing to ignore Hope's very obvious snicker in response. "Unfortunately, Klaus, I'm not holding out on you. Everyone here has access to the same conditions, no one is privileged. I'm sorry if this isn't up to your standards but, frankly, we're all very proud of the home we've built here."

Hope had to stop herself from visibly wincing. Her father wasn't easily made to feel guilt but Caroline had clearly accomplished just that. Everyone was on edge watching to see how he'd respond. Rebekah, leaning against one of Caroline's walls, just had to thank god that Elijah wasn't with them. Elijah could handle almost anything in the world… except to witness his family behave without grace and decorum.

Not many people dared to face Klaus head on in such an openly confrontational way but, even Klaus couldn't deny that Caroline was handling this situation with class. He felt like an ass. Of course he'd offended her. He hadn't even thought about it because he'd been so sure that Caroline would have better apartments as the mayor of the city. But then, Ko had warned them that Caroline didn't think of herself that way.

"Of course," he replied. "I apologize, I did not mean to offend you."

Caroline had to admit that she was surprised with the sincerity of the apology. He offered no qualifiers or explanations. Klaus always had been straightforward with her. And very open. It was one of the things she'd most admired about him.

She practically had to shake her head to rid herself of the thought. Klaus was not to be trusted. After all these years, she had to remember that one of the most important things she had learned was to remember what people were capable of. Klaus had been the catalyst to a lot of destruction in his lifetime.

Caroline stood up. She didn't need to be thinking about any of this now.

"It's fine," she told him. Honestly, she was glad he didn't like it. That meant there was no chance of him staying, right? "Come on, we were about to sit down to dinner when you arrived so none of us have had a chance to eat yet. Let's meet Hayato for dinner and then we'll take you to the labs."

If the room could have let out a collective sigh of relief, it would have. Within minutes of meeting again, Caroline and Klaus had already had their first spat. Hope truly had no idea what to expect when she'd first reintroduced them. Rebekah could have told her better. Caroline had always shown her affection for Klaus by bickering with him and apparently that hadn't changed after all these centuries. While Hope was worried that her father may have single-handedly offended Caroline enough to prevent her from sending anyone back with them to Vegas, Rebekah was more optimistic.

Rebekah wasn't sure if she should trust this older, wiser Caroline Forbes just yet but, she knew she'd have to make up her mind sooner rather than later. Klaus had always said he'd finally win Caroline over. Though he hadn't even dared to mention her name in over a century… it looked like their time might have finally arrived.

The intensity of Caroline and Klaus's interaction still palpable in the air around them, everyone followed Ridley and Caroline out of the bungalow and down to dinner.

* * *

 **As many of my fellow Klaroline fans know, it is a very special time of year. We've reached The Klaroline Awards 2015! It's a competition on tumblr where everyone can nominate and vote for their favorite fics, gifs, and videos made in the past year. You do not need to have a tumblr to participate so please take a moment to visit the Klaroline Awards blog and show your favorite authors some much needed love with a nomination. Even if you don't feel compelled to nominate, it's a great blog that fans work really hard on. And it will introduce you to a wealth of the best Klaroline fics (plus some steamy gifs and videos) on the planet so it's worth checking out!**


	5. The Serpent

" _What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams," — Werner Herzog_

 _ **5**_

 _ **The Serpent**_

They returned to finish dinner — or _start_ dinner, for Klaus and Rebekah and their hybrids — in the same domed cave with the large round meeting table they'd been in earlier. Upon Klaus's arrival, they'd apparently put in a bit more effort and a few staff members were bustling around the table with food.

Hope couldn't help but wonder if it was Caroline who'd arranged this new more formal dinner or someone else, maybe Ko. And, if Caroline _had_ arranged it, did she do it before or after Klaus had insulted her apartments? Either way, it showed Caroline cared about her father's opinion…

Caroline confidently took a seat at the head of the table and Klaus, just as confidently, took the seat to her right. Ridley and Ko both looked a bit put out — clearly knocked out of their normal places thanks to Klaus — and took the two seats to her left. Hope sat next to them so she'd be diagonal from her father and easily able to watch his reactions throughout dinner. So far, his responses to Caroline had been pure entertainment for Hope; she'd never seen her father act like this.

Ezra and Vale, meanwhile, had been exchanging silent conversation via knowing glances all night. While it was good that Hope didn't seem to be in too much trouble — and neither did they, so far — but the drama between Klaus and Caroline was starting to steamroll the real reason for their trip. They could only hope that Caroline herself would make sure to guide their discussion back to research and information about the base.

"Fruit?" Rebekah asked with a genuine note of surprise in her voice when a platter of grapes, berries, and figs were set before her at the table. "You grow produce down here?"

Caroline smiled proudly but allowed Ko to explain. Ko had been a fifth grade teacher in the past, when she was still human. She'd tried to maintain her job in the aftermath of turning but, since the apocalypse had changed _everything_ , Ko didn't often get to use her professional skill set. These days, she functioned more as Caroline's Deputy Mayor than anything else. Having the opportunity to teach things to people was clearly still important to Ko, though, so Caroline didn't mind letting her have the spotlight when it came to explaining how Chiang Mai functioned.

"When we first moved into the caves, early on we found a species of phosphorescent moss that gives out trace amounts of radiation similar to sunlight," she said. "We hang it from the ceilings of our greenhouses."

"Caroline, you should show them later," Ridley suggested unabashedly. "At night, when most of the lights of the city go out, the greenhouses glow bright green. It's very romantic."

Caroline rolled her eyes while Klaus smirked. Just then, a member of Caroline's staff appeared to deposit full goblets of blood in front of everyone except Ridley, as well as two full decanters in the middle of the table. As Klaus took a sip, Hope decided it was time to use some of her extraordinary powers to help the poor guy out. She felt genuinely bad for her floundering father. Not to mention, she was _extremely_ anxious to stay in Chiang Mai a bit longer before they had to return to Vegas. If Klaus kept insulting Caroline, that wasn't going to happen.

So, as her father set down his drink, Hope pushed out to him with her mind.

 _This isn't typical for them,_ she sent to her father, _They don't have access to much clean blood but they're providing this because we're their guests._

If Klaus had gotten the message, he made no sign but, Hope knew he heard her. Unfortunately, he must have missed the point because he began to look a little smug.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Caroline—" he began but suddenly someone stormed into the room. Hope, Vale, and Ezra recognized him as Ko's older brother Hayato.

"First of all, I'm sorry I'm late," Hayato panted out. Ko started to giggle at him but he silenced his little sister with a dangerously serious look. "But I'm also sorry because I have to pull you away again. There's another problem."

Caroline groaned internally. _Why_ was all this happening the day that _Klaus_ decided to show up? But, the moment she was about to start grumbling, the genuine terror that was in Hayato's eyes startled her.

"Hayato, what is it?" she asked him.

He cast a nervous glance over at the Mikaelsons but continued when Caroline steadfastly awaited his answer without blinking.

"There's been a security breach in one of the labs. A patient has been kidnapped, a little girl," he explained. "We've already started tracking her… we think the wolves may have taken her."

" _May_ have?" Ridley demanded. "Who _else_ would have?"

Hayato exchanged a look with his sister who turned to Caroline.

"Care, you know we've long thought there might be something else down here with us," Ko said. "There have been so many signs."

Caroline's brow just furrowed as she began to consider the information being relayed to her.

"Where have you tracked the girl to?" she finally asked Hayato.

He visibly, gulped, as if this was the worst part of his story. "She's still alive," he said. "They've taken her to The Black Lake."

Klaus had been watching these dramatic proceedings with quiet interest but now, he officially felt the need to interject.

" _The Black Lake?"_ he intoned, "What the hell is that and why do all of you seem so afraid of it?"

"You don't need to be concerned about it," Caroline said, swiftly rising from her chair, "Please, stay and have dinner. Ko, come with me, we're going after that girl. Ridley, you'll stay with our guests."

"Why do I have to stay?" Ridley demanded, always hating to be left behind.

"You know goddamn well _why_ Ridley," Caroline hissed in warning. She hadn't served as Ridley's mother-figure for many years now but, when the girl might be in danger, Caroline wasn't afraid to play that card. "I am _not_ taking you to that lake."

"Well, I'm certainly not staying behind," Klaus interrupted, rising to follow her. "We're here to _learn_ , aren't we? Isn't that why you all arranged this whole big trip? You can't keep us in the dark about the dangers that are out there."

Caroline groaned in annoyance. Truth be told, if Hayato and Ko were right and this _wasn't_ all the wolves' doing then she might actually appreciate Klaus's backup on this trip. Even if it was just the wolves, rabid wolves were particularly deadly to vampires and the one thing they really had to worry about other than starvation these days. Klaus also had his hybrids with him…

As Klaus waited for her to respond, he hoped his act had gone over well. He _was_ interested in exchanging knowledge with Caroline but, mostly just because it kept him closer to her while simultaneously learning more about her past two centuries alive. This trip to the "lake," however, he was determined to go on because it sounded dangerous. And he'd be damned if he lost Caroline the moment he'd found her again.

"Fine," Caroline said finally. "But when we're down there you differ to my word, no questions, no arguments."

"Of course," Klaus responded immediately, noting that Rebekah stood up as well. "Not you sister, you need to stay here and keep an eye on my daughter."

"Wait, _I'm_ coming too!" Hope insisted.

"You bloody well are _not,"_ he replied but Caroline interrupted him.

"Let her come," she said. "If you really want your daughter to be prepared by what's out there, she needs to see it herself. You can't protect anyone by keeping them uninformed and inexperienced."

"Yeah, well where's that philosophy when it comes to me?" Ridley demanded but Caroline ignored her. Hope was one of the most powerful and truly immortal beings on the planet; Ridley was a mortal witch.

"Besides," Caroline said as she led. "We're going to need people to wait for us on shore. Only so many of us can fit in the boat."

 _The boat?_ they all wondered, exchanging nervous looks. Where on Earth was she taking them?

* * *

It was a long way down to The Black Lakes. Caroline explained things on their trip down, with help from Ko and Hayato. Rebekah, Hope, Vale, Ezra, and Klaus had _all_ decided to join them, along with half a dozen hybrids, a fact that both concerned and comforted Caroline. She didn't have a hard time keeping her Chiang Mai team in check; they differed to her authority absolutely. But none of these vampires from Vegas thought of her as their leader — especially not Originals.

"We weren't the first people to flee to the underground caves here," Caroline explained first. "Infected creatures, the last cognitive function they have left is survival instinct, so the wolves and infected humans were here first. We suspect they retreated here after the first burning season started in Thailand."

"They're still a problem in Vegas too," Ezra said behind her. "Infected humans have a tough time surviving in the sandstorms out in LV but you see them every once in awhile. They're able to hole up in the abandoned buildings in the city."

She resisted the urge to throw a glare at Klaus who _should have_ taken care of the problem himself. Caroline was a real leader. Klaus was just an ass hiding out with his hybrids in his glass palace.

"Well, we've actually got the problem relatively under control," Caroline said. "Most remaining people who are infected are in our labs. The wolves we've never been able to keep under control so we only keep a few but… we've been able to break up the packs and disperse most of them."

"But they've been getting smarter," Hayato interjected.

"Smarter?" Klaus asked. This was new information to him. The rabid wolves in Vegas were still little more than feral beasts of the night.

"They're still rabid…" Caroline tried to explain. "You can't talk to them anymore or anything but… they're fighting back now. They plan things. They've never done that before. And they're starting to regroup."

Now Klaus was even more glad he'd joined Caroline. Surely if this was a problem in Chiang Mai it was only a matter of time before it developed in the Vegas wolves too. Simultaneously, though, he was even more upset that he'd allowed Hope to join them though, next to him Hope was all bubbling excitement and it did make him smile, albeit briefly.

"Rebekah you better be damn well memorizing your way out of this labyrinth," Klaus said gesturing to the darkened cave path they were following. "You're staying on shore with Hope and you'll have to be ready to run with her at the first sign of trouble."

Suddenly he whirled around to face Vale with a sudden and harsh growl.

"You _too_ boy, if you want to start proving your worth," he spat.

Vale genuinely cowered beneath Klaus for a moment before a snort from Caroline ahead of them broke Klaus's attention.

"Very progressive parenting, Klaus," Caroline said sarcastically. "Come on, we have further to go but I don't want to speed through, it's easy to get lost down here and, where we're going, we don't have any maps to use."

Sure enough, the longer they traveled the rougher the root became. At first, closest to the base, they were walking on carved, well-traveled cave paths. As they went further, they began to climb downwards. The town's electricity was rapidly replaced by torches and the path became more difficult and more natural. Repel lines were set up at certain points. Eventually, they had to turn on helmets with lights on them. Ropes guided them at certain points of the climb but, soon enough, they were walking into clearly uncharted territory.

They were in the pitchest black that Klaus had ever seen… or _not_ seen depending on how you looked at it. For someone with incredibly heightened senses it was a peculiar sensation to suddenly feel almost purely blind. He could see his companions around him, only because of their lights but, it was like they were all walking in a void. Ahead, Caroline seemed like a beam of light in the darkness herself. When she'd turn around to check on the group, the light from her helmet framed her face like she was made of the sun itself. It seemed strange to think of how she'd been living down _here_ , becoming a creature of the dark — hell a _Queen_ of the dark — for decades. When had she last even seen the real sun?

"How do we know where we're going?" Rebekah asked, almost timidly. "How do we know we won't fall into a cavern any second?"

It was a genuinely terrifying thought… an Original would be trapped in the deepest crevices of the Earth for eternity. Unable to die and likely unable to escape.

"It's darker to you because you're not used to it down here," Ko assured her. "We've been down here for decades, our eyes can see better in the dark. This _is_ one of the darkest systems we've been to — it's one of the reasons we haven't explored it more — but we _can_ see what we're doing. We're not even near anywhere you could fall right now."

"That doesn't mean you all shouldn't be on your guard though," Caroline warned. "We've only been down here a few times ourselves and don't know the terrain all that well. People have gone missing before; there are vampires who have never been found."

Klaus was seriously questioning his decision to allow Hope to join them just because Caroline had guilted him into thinking it'd be _good_ for her. He turned around to gaze at Hope behind him, she was listening to everything Caroline said almost reverently — so were the rest of them. At least she was taking the danger seriously. He threw her and Rebekah a meaningful look: _stick together._

"We're approaching the lake," Hayato said in a hushed tone. "Quiet now…"

When Caroline stopped walking, everyone fell into place behind her. With a quick motion, Hayato stepped forward with a lighter in hand. Reaching out, his helmet lit up the shape of a tall torch sticking up from the ground. When he lit the first torch, the area illuminated considerably and then, they could finally see the edge of the lake.

Klaus could see where it got its name — it was such a deep ink color it was startling to behold, blacker than black, almost vantablack. As Hayato continued to light up a line of torches along the shore, more of the lake's outline became visible. It was so large that tiny waves actually lapped against the dark underground sand on which they were now standing. However, it was so dark in the cavern no one could actually get a sense for how big the body of water truly was; you couldn't see how far it extended in any direction. Really, you couldn't see much farther than the short distance their lights fell.

Tied to one of the torches in the ground was a rope that extended a short way out over the lake to where a small yellow, rubber, rescue dinghy was located. A second and third were tied to subsequent torches. _Those_ tiny things were what were going to carry them about this huge, dark, and seemingly infinite underground lake?

"I knew there were underground chambers and pools," Klaus said, "But I had no idea how far down or how lage. How big is this lake? How far down _are_ we?"

"We're about 20 miles deep right here," Ko answered immediately. "This is one of the deepest caves we've ever reached. As for how big The Black Lake is? We really have no way to tell; we assume it's the size of at least one of the Great Lakes in America because it does have waves. We're also not really sure what _causes_ the waves… like, would water be affected by the lunar cycle down here-?"

"—Save it for later, please, Ko," Caroline prompted as gently as she could. "We don't need to draw attention that we're here. Now, how on Earth do we find this girl?"

"You did say she was a lab _patient_ didn't you?" Rebekah asked. "May I ask why we're going through all this trouble for someone who is infected?"

"She's a little girl!" Hayato chastised, surprising everyone since he'd not yet addressed one of the Mikaelsons specifically before now unless he had to. "Besides, in our research we've found a way to slow the progression of the disease by several _years_ using vampire blood. That little girl will still be fully cognitive for the next four or five years! She's out there somewhere and terrified."

Rebekah had the good sense to look a little ashamed and Caroline suspected that had something to do with the way she'd been subtly gravitating towards Hayato ever since he'd arrived. Hayato _was_ very attractive, slightly taller than Klaus but had a very wiry and thin frame with striking features — all of which Rebekah had clearly noticed though Hayato appeared oblivious to anything other than the situation at hand.

Klaus, on the other hand, was only keeping tabs on Rebekah to make sure she was keeping tabs on Hope. He was startled by this first revelation onto Caroline's research. Adding an extra four to five years of usable blood onto a human's life? Perhaps her cure research _could_ be useful, after all.

"And where exactly do we think they've taken the girl?" Klaus asked, "Have you ever been across the lake before?"

"No…" Caroline admitted evenly and maintaining eye contact, sure that he was going to have one of his Original Freakouts any second. "We've never been able to make it the whole way across, we don't even have any idea how long it is."

"So-" he began but Caroline cut him off with a sharp shushing sound.

Her head whipped around as she faced the direction of the lake. She closed her eyes as she concentrated, suddenly using every ounce of her concentration to just listen. As she'd finished describing their knowledge of the lake to Klaus she thought she had heard— _There it was again._ The wail in the distance sent a cold and powerful shiver straight down Caroline's spine from the top of her head all the way to her toes. She looked towards Ko and Hayato, mouthing _Did you hear that?_ They were both deathly still and silent and only responded with a the quickest of nods.

Now, Klaus and Rebekah were straining to hear too. Not once over their many centuries alive had they ever encountered _anyone_ with better hearing than they but, they had not spent the past six decades underground. Down here, in the dark, all of your senses became much steadily more and more in-tune with the darkness until most people felt almost nocturnal within the first six months. The only citizens who really didn't fare well down here were the humans and witches; human families, and Ridley herself for that matter, usually visited a makeshift tanning salon set up in the city several times a week to make sure they were getting enough Vitamin D.

Everyone was silent still until Hope spoke up finally. She'd been quiet for the last fifteen minutes or more. Klaus wasn't sure if it was because she was in awe or just hyper-aware of potential danger. He suspected it was a bit of both.

"I hear it," Hope said, looking up to maintain eye contact with Caroline. "A child crying. It's coming from somewhere on the lake."

Klaus quickly strode over to where his daughter was standing so that he could listen from her angle and then, he heard it too. Somewhere out in the distance across the lake, a little girl was softly whimpering and crying, alone in the darkness. _Was she alone?_

"She doesn't sound that far out," Klaus said once he'd heard the sounds himself. "She can't possibly be across the lake."

"There are dozens of islands out there," Ko said. "Most of them no bigger than large rocks but they're big enough to leave a child on. Not to mention the unknown number of enclaves from around the edges of the lake."

"We'll just have to follow the sound," Caroline said firmly. "Alright, let's get this done. Who's definitely coming and who's staying?"

Ko and Hayato both exchanged glances, mentally agreeing on something in less time than it took to blink.

"I'll go," Ko said. "Hayato can help guide us back from the shore."

"I'd like to go with you," Ezra said, timidly. "I don't know what we'll see out there… if anything but, that's why I'm here, to see as much as possible. And if anything goes wrong, I'm a strong fighter and I know my way around a boat."

Caroline smiled and nodded, confirming the girl could join her. "Just remember, everything is different in the dark here," she said. "You fight differently because you see differently. And this lake isn't as placid as it seems. We've lost boats and vampires out here before."

"Which reminds me," Klaus said. "Are _these_ really our only transportation option?" He was gesturing to the yellow rubber rescue dinghies which, admittedly, didn't look like they could hold up against much.

"Unfortunately," Caroline replied, not offended by his hesitancy. The Black Lake was an intimidating spot. "Until we get this area better mapped out and build a more accessible root to get here, these are all we can really get out here. You saw how many cliffs we had to repel over to get down here, imagine trying to do that with a _real_ boat."

Yes, it would have been difficult to get a canoe or, better yet, a small motorboat down here but, looking out over that dark lake, Klaus still thought it seemed worth it.

"So, am I to gather that you'll be joining us on the lake then?" Caroline asked to confirm.

"Indeed, I shall," he replied, thankful that she was willing to accept his participation without question. If she had demanded he tell her why, he wouldn't have known what to say. _Because I don't want to ever let you out of my sight again. Because there's no way in hell I'd let you out on that lake without me._ "Don't get any ideas just because your friend is joining us," Klaus said, turning to his daughter in part to distract himself from the onslaught of thoughts about Caroline. "As decided before, you _will_ be staying on shore with your Aunt Rebekah. That boy of yours will stay with you as well."

 _Very progressive_ , Caroline couldn't help but think to herself again. Caroline hadn't had much time to talk to Hope yet but she'd been steadily observing her from the moment she'd arrived with Ezra and Vale. Hope was a strong young woman and she knew how to handle herself. All things considered, Caroline was _technically_ less than two decades older than her so Hope would conceivably have the same amount of experience as she did herself. Caroline would have had to have a stern talk with her mother if she had _ever_ intimated to Caroline that she needed a man to care for her. Though she suspected these interactions with Vale had more to do with Vale _proving_ himself to Klaus than any actual misogynistic beliefs, it still irritated Caroline. She'd been doing _just fine_ taking care of herself, and an entire city to boot, without a man for well over a decade, thank you very much.

If Hope or Vale were going to say anything in response, Caroline broke through the tension by continuing to plan their trip out.

"Can we take any of your hybrids?" she asked Klaus.

He looked over the six men and women who had traveled with him specifically to rescue Hope and nothing more. Not one of them looked at all put out about the situation in the slightest. Anxious, maybe a bit but, also… excited. Suddenly he began to sense that emotion from everyone except the Chiang Mai vampires present. Everyone here from Vegas was entranced with the city here, it's adventure and, clearly, Caroline herself.

He pointed to three of them and said "Stay on shore with Hope. You three, come with us."

Caroline took a backpack from Hayato and throwing it over her own shoulder. Before she slipped it fully onto her back, she opened it up to sift through it and pulled out a gun to toss to Klaus. Ko did the same with her own pack, handing a gun to Ezra.

"Just in case the wolves are out here," Ko explained.

Caroline began to walk towards the boats. "Ko, you take one, I'll take the other. We need someone who knows the territory in each," she said.

No one even had to be asked where they were going, it was so obvious. Ezra filed into the dinghy behind Ko and Klaus took his seat behind Caroline.

"Two of you with them," Klaus said to the hybrids and gesturing to Ko's boat, "One of you with us."

Caroline silently agreed with his assessment and began untying their dinghy from its post at the shore. Simultaneously she and Ko cast off, handing each member of their boat an oar to paddle.

"Keep an eye on the light," Caroline ordered to Hayato. "Don't wait any longer than two hours and, if we're gone longer than that, send out a single troop from our militia and nothing more."

Hayato nodded. Klaus pressed two fingers to his lips before pointing them back to Hope. She mimicked the gesture. It had been their wordless goodbye for as long as she could remember. Then, he mouthed to her as they drifted further from shore: _Be safe._

They traversed the lake for the first several minutes in almost reverential silence. They were paddling into the most extreme absence of light that Klaus had ever experience in his many years alive. Occasionally he would glance back to the shore, watching his daughter grow smaller in the distance. He could still make out the light of their torches but, soon enough, it was only a pinprick.

Ahead of him, at the front of the boat, Caroline slowed their paddling pointed out across the water ahead of them to Ko in the boat next to them.

"Careful, there's a tight group of stalagmites up ahead," she said. "Go slowly and paddle around them."

Sure enough, the light from their helmet's illuminated the black water ahead of them and Klaus could see dozens of razor-sharp rock stalagmites peeking up from beneath the water's surface. If they weren't careful, the rocks could tear their boat to shreds.

Caroline had been calling these caves home for so long that she wasn't nearly as on edge as everyone else with her. Nevertheless, the Black Lake inspired a sort-of terror even in her. It was unknown. It was like the Bermuda Triangle of their cave systems. It was the one area where people still seemed to get lost after all these years. And, it was _so_ very dark — and that darkness so very vast and unending — that, even with their lighted helmets on, they could see less than 200 feet in front of them in any direction.

She did a cursory check around her to make sure everyone on her team was still doing alright. Ko looked grim but fine. Ezra plus all the hybrids just looked hypnotized by the unending blackness in front of them. That reaction was typical; it took a good several months to two years to complete adjust to living down here.

Last but not least, her eyes met Klaus's. He was sitting immediately behind her and, the moment their eyes locked, he gave her a wolfish grin. She pursed her lips and whipped around, pretending to be more annoyed than she truly was. Even out here, in no-man's land, under dire circumstances, he still wanted to seduce her. The fact simultaneously complimented her and made her sincerely question his priorities.

Trying to wipe thoughts of him from her head, Caroline looked out onto the water in front of them. The light barely stretched out at all and the water was an inky, almost cloudy, black. She couldn't see a _thing_. It was like staring into nothing.

But then, she saw something and its presence sent her reeling backwards, landing with her back pressed into Klaus's chest. It was _almost_ intimate and, it likely would have felt that way if her heart hadn't been hammering in her chest for entirely different reasons.

"Jesus!" she breathed out.

Klaus grasped her firmly about the shoulders before pushing up to look out over the water himself.

"What?" he demanded. "What did you see?"

"Nothing…" she assured him, shaking her head to regain clarity. "My mind was just playing tricks on me."

Klaus didn't really buy that. Caroline had been living here for _decades_. Maybe this dark made some people hallucinate — at first, before they became used to it — but Caroline was an expert in this environment now. What had she really seen?

For a split second she had thought she'd seen the silvery-grey sheen of some _thing_ pass quickly and lithely beneath them in the water. It had seemed much larger and faster than the boat.

"Caroline…" Klaus began in an extremely hesitant tone. He needed her to be honest with him.

His questioning tone was followed by a sickening lurch. The boat swayed, too much to ignore.

For a split second, they were all silent again. And then, something visibly rippled beneath the thin rubber at the bottom of the boat. Something _enormous._

"There's something under the boat," Caroline said, as if they all hadn't experienced the exact same feeling. Next to her, Ko and Ezra had stopped paddling. They were gazing at her with wide eyes.

Caroline didn't speak again, she just motioned to her team around her. She gestured to the lights, their oars, and made the signal to keep their mouths closed. _Lights off, oars up, don't make a sound._ They flicked out their lights in tandem and were, for the first time, left in _true_ darkness.

Back on the shore, Hope and the rest watched as the last pinpoint of the boat's light finally went out. None of them realized that they'd turned out the light; they simply thought Klaus and the rest had finally gone too far to see the light any further.

On the boat, none of them were even daring to breath. They waited just a few seconds which felt like agonizing minutes.

And then, something parted the surface of the water next to them. It sounded like a fin surfacing above the lake before quickly disappearing again. Though they couldn't see anything, Caroline and Klaus's eyes were both locked in the direction of the sound. Their every sense was trying desperately to see but down _here,_ this far below ground to where man had never been, even their supernatural senses couldn't prevail against the pitch black.

Whatever was beneath them paused its motions for a moment. Their concentration on the water was broken by another sharp cry from a young girl. _The girl_ , she was still out here and now they were close. She sounded less than a few hundred feet away.

Still unwilling to turn the lights back on or make a sound, Caroline slowly lowered her own paddle back into the water, hoping that the others would hear her and follow suit. If they were lucky, whatever beast was swimming beneath them would not care enough to return to the boats again.

They paddled in silent darkness, now following only the sound of the girl's crying that grew closer and closer in each second.

Out of nowhere, though, they heard an abrupt and startling ripping sound send shockwaves through the air. In turning out the lights, Caroline had hoped to avoid the attention of the monster beneath them. But, in doing so, she'd forgotten about the stalagmites creeping up from the floor of the lake.

She felt it as if it was hitting her own body when the sharp rock tore open the bottom surface of her boat. The epically cold water of the lake surrounded their feet in an instant and Caroline had to concentrate _very_ hard not to gasp at the freezing contact.

"Lights on, _now!"_ she demanded and the lights from each person's helmet flicked on one after another.

The water was flooding their boat quickly and the newly lighted area showed the stalagmite that had punctured their boat resting below the surface of the water and the deep tear in their rubber boat.

"Get over here, _now!"_ Klaus demanded to the other boat. He needn't have said anything. Ko was already paddling her way over, and around the stalagmites, since she'd first heard the fear in Caroline's tone.

The second the other dinghy was next to them, Klaus and Caroline and their hybrid had tossed themselves onto the floor of Ko's boat.

And, immediately after, the lights of their helmets reflected on the shining skin of an _enormous_ monster that began to surface from the depths of the lake. It's head alone was over 5 meters long and it had enormous _sharp_ teeth. The great beast's head broke the surface of the water with an open mouth and swallowed the remains of the punctured dinghy whole.

They didn't even need to wait for Caroline's command. Everyone switched their lights off immediately after the huge creature had submerged with the rubber boat in its mouth.

"What the _hell_ is _that?"_ Caroline shrieked, not caring in the slightest that she'd lost her composure. She'd never seen a creature that large in her entire life.

Back on the shore, they had seen the lights from the boats flicker on and off several times now. They were _pretty_ sure they had caught a shriek or two as well. Hope couldn't help herself after that. Taking a step closer to the edge of the water, she cupped her hands around her mouth.

" _Dad?!"_ Hope called out, in a terrified question. "Ezra?! _**DAD!"**_ Vale couldn't help his response. He was at Hope's side in an instant, cradling her against him.

Out on the lake, they were still in the pitch black but Klaus found himself looking to Caroline before he responded to his daughter's frantic cries. His automatic inclination was to respond to Hope for reassurance but, somehow, he doubted that would go over well with Caroline right now.

Gazing back at him while he silently questioned her, Caroline shook her head a minute amount. She felt truly bad for Klaus. All he wanted to do was reassure his daughter but, if he did, it might cost all of their lives.

"Are they okay?" Hope asked Hayato, back on the shore of the lake.

"I think so," Hayato responded genuinely. "If something had gone wrong, I think we'd have heard more."

That was true, Hope considered. Her father liked to pretend that he left her out of harm's way for purely paternal reasons and, largely, this was true. However, Klaus had learned over the years what a valuable asset his daughter could be. She was, perhaps, the most powerful witch to have existed. As long as Hope was waiting for him on shore… she could help to ensure her father's safety.

The sobbing of the young girl grew louder as they continued to traverse the water quietly. Their lights were out again and they were paddling as quietly as possible. The boat was somewhat sunken in, too. It really wasn't meant for this many people.

As the crying became closer, Caroline was about to tell everyone to stop and turn on their lights. But, then, they felt something shift beneath their boat again.

It was back.

She knew they were close to land. They had to be to hear this young girl's sobs, right?

"Jump!" she ordered, right as the boat began sway beneath her again as the monster approached.

Without thinking or looking, they all leapt out of the boat. The small rubber dinghy they'd been sitting in before was promptly snatched up and devoured by the jaws of the same creature as before.

Klaus didn't care what she thought of it; he grabbed her hand tightly in his own and she squeezed back.

"Okay," she breathed out. "I'm going to count to three and then we'll turn our lights back on. Okay?"

Klaus was gripping both of her hands so tightly in his own that it was almost painful.

"Okay," he confirmed.

She breathed out a long, deep sigh before looking up to hold his eyes.

"One… two… three…" Klaus said.

* * *

 **So, my main goal with this chapter (as well as the next) is that it would be scary. I really hope it came through! Did I?! Please drop a quick comment and let me know how you felt! :D**

 **Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, especially Lilly Navarro, Angelikah, latrice555, CKhybrid and, everyone else! I love reading your ongoing opinions as I expand this universe. I am so excited about what I have planned and hope I will not disappoint!**


	6. Under Siege

" _Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the_ _Lord_ _drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left." -_ Exodus 14:21

 _ **6**_

 _ **Under Siege**_

" _One… two… three,"_ Klaus had said and they turned on their lights, hands still linked together in the dark.

Caroline had honestly expected to land in water when they had first jumped. It was a wonderful surprise, then, when she found herself rolling along the surface of the rocky island on which they had crashed. But she let go of Klaus's grip after she flicked on the light of her helmet to see who had landed with her. She was immediately gratified to see that everyone had made it.

Ezra was panting in a crouching position near the lake and Ko was bending over to help her.

It was true that, now, Caroline had no idea how they'd all get back. There was still one boat on shore but she wasn't about to have anyone traverse the lake again to come get them. For now, she couldn't even think about it though. Her entire focus was: _find the girl, protect the girl._

Secure in the knowledge that her companions had made it to the island safely, she turned to face the inland to find the girl. Her sobs were just a bit further ahead. Caroline _longed_ to call out to her. She had raised enough generations of Bonnie's children to understand what it felt like to be a mother. It seemed barely a few days since Ridley herself had been that young, whimpering over a bruised knee or hurt feeling.

Caroline wondered if Klaus was effected by the sound as profoundly as she. He _was_ a father now, after all.

In truth, Klaus _was_ effected, though obviously not nearly as much as Caroline herself. Klaus had not miraculously transformed into a new and all-encompassingly compassionate person after having Hope… and yet, each soft cry from the girl ahead gripped at his insides as if he was listening to Hope on the island. He couldn't help the feelings. Fatherhood instilled innate responses in you.

They all took a few steps further ahead and then, their lights began to illuminate bones. Picked clean but, obviously fresh, they looked human and small. The sound of crying intensified.

And then the beam of light from Caroline's helmet landed on the wolf.

Still in human form because, as far as Caroline was aware, it wasn't a full moon, the woman was nonetheless the picture of menacing. Squatting naked in amongst the rocks, covered in dirt and blood, she was gazing at Caroline with wide and frenzied eyes. She was smiling — a broad and challenging grin that practically split open her face to reveal her sharp teeth.

Then, she looked Caroline dead in the eye and let out a small and pitiful sob, the smile never leaving her face.

Caroline's stomach clenched and then dropped out from under her. It hadn't been the little girl crying at all. The wolf had imitated the sounds of the child to _lure_ her out here.

Klaus had put it all together himself the same time as she and he came up from behind Caroline to grasp her upper arm fiercely. Caroline found she didn't even care about the possessive way in which he touched her. This was not the time to be getting irritated with Klaus over small things.

"Let's go," he said to her, his voice deep and serious. "The girl is dead."

She didn't ask him how he knew because she knew it herself. The blood on the wolf was obviously fresh and human.

As Caroline turned back to Klaus, she sensed something shifting in her peripheral vision in the shadows. Wolves, dozens of them, were crawling out towards them eerily slowly.

"Okay," she said almost glibly, "Let's get out of here. I'm open to suggestions on just how we accomplish that!" 9

It happened in a flash. The wolves stopped crawling out towards them slowly and were now running at them at full speed to attack. The woman who'd been pretending to cry launched herself at Caroline. Her intentions were clear. She was on a mission to bite Caroline.

Moving much faster than he'd needed to in a long time, Klaus came between them and sent the she-wolf flying backwards with a single powerful swipe. His full hybrid features were showing. That didn't stop the onslaught of wolves that began to surround all of them though, going after all of them.

" _ **HOPE!"**_ Klaus roared, suddenly and deafeningly. His only instinct was to gather up Caroline and push her behind him but, next to him, she was too busy defending herself against the wolves. _I should have made her drink my blood the second I knew there were wolves down here,_ was all he could think to himself. A wolf lunged at him and Klaus cleanly snapped its neck.

Back on shore, Hope heard her father's plea / command as if he'd been right next to her. It could have been an order to leave but she understood the nuances of her father's tone better than that. They needed help. Without even looking to confirm someone else had heard Klaus shout, Hope lowered her head and began to project her magic.

" _Phantasma spelunca invoco auxilium. Dividimus aqua. Lux semita. Dividimus aqua. Lux semita,"_ she chanted, focusing the whole of her attention onto forging a connection with her father.

Before Hayato and Vale's astounded eyes an otherworldly light began to illuminate in a wide beam beneath the lake's surface. It traversed the length of the lake all the way out to the island where several of the feral wolves were startled off by the sight of it. The female wolf that had been dueling Caroline, though, wasn't put off in the least. She was still attacking with a near demonic fury but Caroline was holding her own. She'd gotten so much _faster_ over the years, Klaus noticed. He also noticed that she looked _stunning_ while she was fighting, the veins beneath her eyes dark.

But he couldn't let himself be distracted now. _Hurry daughter,_ he reached out with his mind. Hope was still steadily chanting back on the shore.

Two things happened simultaneously. The female wolf fighting Caroline managed to wrestle her to the ground and, when she did, Klaus saw her teeth graze the surface of Caroline's neck and then she bit. At the same moment, Hope's incantation finally took hold and the water in the lake suddenly began to rise.

Caroline gasped when she saw it happen, genuinely distracted from the fact that she'd been bitten. Klaus wasn't, though, and he'd promptly sped over to her, killed the wolf plus five more creeping up from behind, and pulled Caroline off of her feet and into her arms.

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded as they all continued to watch the water in the lake swell high above their heads in two towering waves.

"She's parting the lake," Klaus replied simply and Caroline knew he meant his daughter.

Ko was staring at the lake absolutely flabbergasted. She'd never seen anything like it. It was like two tsunami waves poised to strike at any moment but being held in perfect stillness. Between the waves, an illuminated path down the bottom of the lake was waiting to lead them back to the shore.

"Oh, lucky for us, Klaus gave birth to freaking Moses?!" Ko half-questioned and half-shrieked.

"She's the most powerful witch that has ever lived, this is child's play for her," he responded simply. Behind them, the wolves were backing off in terror, frightened of the water.

Caroline wasn't sure why she was still in Klaus's arms. She decided it must be the sheer shock of what was occurring. She looked down into the lake. Although they could now walk back, the path was not an easy one. The bottom of the lake was, unsurprisingly, not flat. Beneath the water's surface was a massively deep and wide bed. This was going to be more like traversing a canyon. Well, if Klaus was _offering_ to carry her through it then who was _she_ to stop him, really?

He prepared to speed off but, before he did, he bit into his wrist and offered it to Caroline. She drank from him without question and Ezra and Ko couldn't help but notice that it was playing out almost like a bizarre little domestic routine between the two of them. When Caroline began to drink, Klaus allowed himself a single moment to shut his eyes in response — a reaction that was only unnoticed by Caroline as she drank.

Klaus let her continue to drink as he sped off across the lake with her in his arms. The others followed behind quickly. None of the wolves dared to follow.

They'd been miles out from the shore and, now taking a much longer and tougher route back, it wasn't exactly a quick trip home, even at Klaus's speed. Once she stopped drinking from him — which was _hard_ because she'd forgotten how good he tasted — she looked at the water walled on either side of them.

The light illuminating the ground underneath them was bright enough that she could finally get a real look at what was in this lake. Really, the water was teeming with life, most of it small. Some of the ugliest fish she'd ever seen in her life swam by and a multitude of spindly crabs and some eyeless squids were all there too. And then, in the distance she saw something swimming in the water next to them.

"Stop," she requested of Klaus. He did and set her on her feet, seeming to know what she wanted. They both turned to look into the water.

About a hundred yards away, apparently completely oblivious to the fact that his home was currently divided in half was the _thing_ that had terrorized them earlier. Maybe 100 meters long, it looked like a giant serpent or eel and it glided through the water silently and almost elegantly. Even from this distance you keep see it's sharp snaggle-toothed grin peeking out in odd angles from the creature's jaw.

"Hoping to attract it's attention again, darling?" Klaus asked her jokingly.

Caroline visibly shuddered.

"No, let's keep going," she said but she didn't get back into his arms. She continued racing to shore by herself with Klaus _very_ much appreciating the view from behind.

Hope was grateful when she first heard them approaching. A spell of this magnitude was _not_ as easy as Klaus had boasted to Ko and keeping it going for this long was wearing her out.

Caroline appeared back first with Klaus quickly by her side. Ezra, Ko, and the hybrids weren't far behind. The second they were all on shore, Hope released herself from the concentration of the spell. Surprisingly the effect was not too dramatic. Instead of crashing down and flooding anything, the water seemed to slide slowly and purposefully back into its original place.

"Pretty impressive stuff, kid," Ko commented, patting Hope on the shoulder in awe. "You really saved our asses."

"No problem," Hope replied, "What happened out there?"

Klaus crossed over to her and pulled her into a hug. Hope leaned into her father, glad that he was back safe.

"Are you tired?" he asked her quietly and when she nodded he scooped her up into his arms. "We'll tell you the whole story back in the city."

"Good plan," Caroline replied behind him. "I think we're all ready to get out of here."

* * *

They told bits and pieces of the story on the way back up to the city. Before long, though, troubling sounds in the distance interrupted their tale. _Alarms,_ Caroline recognized, grimly. She knew the sound well. The eerie wails were designed to echo far through the caves and, though they just signaled danger, they usually only meant one thing: _wolves._

Once they were back in the city, they were met by pandamonium. Parameter guards were racing around and it looked like every member of the militia was out in full force. Alarms were going off everywhere, particularly in the direction of the labs.

"What the hell is going on?" Caroline demanded, flashing over to one of the city guards.

"Wolves," he replied grimly, "From all over the caves. They're surrounding the city. Where have you been? No one has been able to find _any_ of you for hours!"

"The wolves lured us down to the lake," she explained.

"They were trying to kill you," Klaus said, stepping up behind her to voice his suspicions. _"You_ very specifically I think, Caroline. First they tried using the dangers in the lake and, when that didn't work, they specifically took down _you_ to bite."

"Is that true Caroline?" Hayato asked in concern.

Hayato's tone sent a shockwave of jealousy through Klaus's system so violent, he was sure it must have shown on his face. He wanted to snap the man's neck _almost_ as badly as the she-wolf that bit Caroline.

"It's a working theory," she answered casually. "But that's pure speculation, we don't know anything for sure. Is the situation contained?" she asked the guard.

He began to exchange logistics with Caroline and Klaus turned back to his family.

Alright, enough was enough, Klaus was _not_ prepared to keep them here in the midst of a war with the wolves. He motioned to a hybrid and ordered him to prepare the plane. Surely they'd had time to refuel it by now. Hope looked at him with wide, unbelieving eyes. _We're leaving already?_ Vale and Ezra didn't look too pleased either.

Caroline was clearly finishing up sending off the guard with a set of orders and Hope made a pointed gesture in the blonde's direction. _Well? What about Caroline?_

"Caroline we're leaving," Klaus told her when she was facing their group again. _Tell me you want to come back with us. Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me…_

"Fine, go!" Caroline shouted back, far too concerned with the alarms going off in her city to give him a second thought. _Minus that clenching in your stomach. Ignore that._

"Not without you!" Klaus demanded in return.

She whirled on him with wide and unbelieving eyes. _Really, Klaus? Would you like to rephrase your answer in the form of a question?_

"If _you_ want to leave, fine, we can fight our own battles here. But I am _not_ abandoning my city."

"Damnit, Caroline, I have not just found you now only to lose you a few hours later!" he raged. Somewhere in the caves beyond them a fire had broken out and thick black smoke was pouring down over top of them.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him when he said that. "Newsflash, I have _never_ been yours to lose!"

And on that note, Ko approached deftly from behind Caroline and snapped her friend's neck.

Klaus looked behind Caroline in shock, effortlessly catching her limp frame in his arms as she toppled over. He didn't know whether to thank Ko and beat her senseless. Next to her, her brother Hayato didn't look anything more than nonplussed.

"The wolves are launching an attack to get Caroline," Ko explained shortly. "They've had a vendetta against her for years because they see her as responsible for driving them into the lower caves, breaking up their packs, and decimating their population."

"She won't listen to us," Hayato lamented. "She's convinced herself that the wolves will never be smart enough to hold personal grudges."

While it was true that the infected wolves he'd encountered here in Chiang Mai were by far the smartest he'd ever seen in the rabid population, he could have told Caroline himself that sick wolves were still capable of grudges. Jackson had been proof enough of that.

"What are you telling me?" Klaus growled at them, unbelieving as the still very limp Caroline was draped in his arms. Behind them, the source of the smoke suddenly exploded with fire and the sound of an animalistic bellow echoed off the walls of the caves. _What in God's name was_ that? _What sort of creatures were down here with them?_

"We're saying get her on your plane!" Ko insisted, now trying to direct them back up towards the direction of the hanger where their plane waited. "If Chiang Mai loses Caroline, the blow to morale will be devastating. If you get her out of here for a few months, we can take care of the wolves while they're not on an active assassination attempt!"

"We needed someone to come back and help us with our research base _anyway_ ," Hope joined in as they began to walk.

"It's not permanent," Hayato said softly, once again sending a wave of jealousy surge through Klaus, even amidst the siege. "Tell her when she wakes up that we'll keep in touch with her; she'll be informed of everything that happens."

Klaus genuinely hesitated. This was completely against Caroline's will. She _would not_ like it. And, further, she'd blame it all on him. He hadn't been lying when he said he wouldn't leave without her; he also hadn't been entirely sure what he planned to do about that after he set the words free. Ko had simply taken care of the problem for them.

 _If she really makes too much of a fuss, we can always take her back,_ he reasoned… knowing damn well that the second he saw her in his home in LV that he'd be hard pressed into giving her up again. _Ah well,_ he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

He caught Rebekah's eye and handed over Caroline's limp form.

"Get her and everyone else into the plane," Klaus directed before singling out two hybrids, a brother and sister. "You two, come with me. We're going to gather the Bennett witch."

* * *

Ridley had been angrily holed up back in the bungalow she shared with Caroline for hours now. At first she had simply been _pissed_ to be left behind. She didn't worry too quickly because she knew any chase after the wolves would be time consuming. Then the alarms had started and they still hadn't stopped.

Caroline often valued Ridley's assistance in fighting when they were on their home turf — she just didn't like Ridley joining her in uncharted areas. But, when Caroline wasn't actually present to give any _orders_ , Ridley was under strict rule to stay safe and stay home. Caroline only wanted the girl fighting if she was there to make sure everything was okay.

Thus, being trapped in their apartment with nothing to do but crane her neck out their windows, she was flooded with relief when someone swished open the drape their entryway and stormed in.

But it was not Caroline. It was Klaus Mikaelson.

Ridley stood completely still in the middle of the apartment, acknowledging him with wide uncertain eyes. She'd never seen a hybrid before but she could tell his features were showing. His eyes glowed yellow and his fangs were _just_ showing beneath his lips. He glowered down at her. Klaus was terrifying as hell.

"No time to pack," he addressed her, "We're leaving."

"Leaving?" Ridley asked, still very much in shock at his presence. "Where are we going?"

"To my plane," he replied simply, grasping the witch tightly around her upper arm and wrenching her along with him. It was the same gesture he'd made with Caroline earlier only, instead of grabbing her with possessiveness, he grabbed Ridley in almost a certain panic. He had _no_ desire to be without Hope _or_ Caroline for even a second right now but, this witch was clearly like something of a daughter to Caroline. Leaving her would be like Caroline leaving Hope behind and Klaus knew he could never stand to see Caroline's heart broken in that way.

"Where's Caroline?!" Ridley demanded shrilly.

"Your mother is on the plane, waiting for us," he said. He had picked her up now and she obligingly latched onto his back after hearing that Caroline was waiting. Although she chose to ignore the fact that he'd referred to her as Ridley's _mother._

Truth be told, Klaus was simply glad she'd acquiesced so easily. The girl may have looked like her grandmother, but this was no Bonnie. The last Bennet witch he'd encountered had enough experience with his family to no longer truly fear them. Ridley did not have that experience and, thus, was terrified of the Mikaelsons.

Racing at full speed, they were back up to arena in minutes. Everyone else had already boarded but his hybrids who were waiting for him surrounding the plane. He placed Ridley onto her feet, nudging her to the right direction. Before he followed her onto the plane her turned to the sibling hybrids who had accompanied him to fetch Bonnie.

"I have a feeling you already know what I plan to request of you…" he began.

* * *

Once Ridley caught sight of Caroline on that plane, her will to fight returned with a vengeance. Caroline was passed out, her neck snapped at a funny angle. Though it was quickly heeling, she was clearly here against her will. How did they get her onto the plane without anyone stopping them?

Sending out a surge of pure power fueled by her rage and concern for Caroline, Ridley released a staggeringly strong headache on the immortal occupants of the plane.

And just as quickly, Hope shut the whole charade down with a cool and concentrated blink. The force of the miniscule action was enough to easily interrupt Ridley's spell and send the young girl spilling out onto the floor of the plane. Ezra promptly offered her a hand up but Ridley ignored it.

"I don't think so, Ridley. I wouldn't try that again if I were you," Hope told her calmly. "I'm a witch too and I've been practicing magic many hundreds of years longer than you."

Ridley glared back at Hope sullenly. "I was led here under false pretenses," she spat out angrily.

"Well, if Klaus told you that Caroline agreed to join us," Rebekah spoke up, "Then yes, that was a lie. But we're getting you out of here for your safety. The wolves are after Caroline."

"And you're not here permanently," Klaus said, finally stepping up behind her on the plane with his hybrids… notably minus two of them. "We'll get Ko and Hayato on the radio to explain everything when she wakes."

"Until then," Vale started, "Has anyone offered you a drink? You really look like you could use one…"

"Just _whose_ liquor do you think you're handing out, _boy?"_ Klaus spat at him.

The plane's engine began to rumble and, overtop of them, the roof to the arena began to part. Slowly and steadily, they rose into the air where their jet was consumed by cascading black smoke within seconds.

* * *

It was less than an hour before Caroline had fully recovered and began to awaken. Before she even opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the _thick,_ overpowering scent of smoke clogging the air around her.

Her eyes snapped open with a gasp. Klaus, who had been patiently watching her this whole time, not giving a damn who else saw him stare, had to physically hold himself back from rising immediately to rush to her side.

Caroline sat up, taking in her surroundings. Comfortingly, her eyes alighted on Ridley first but then she saw Klaus and Hope next to him. Across from them sat Rebekah who was actually playing a game of chess with Vale, much to Hope's delight.

She processed the fact that they appeared to be in the cabin of a plane. And then she saw the smoke flowing outside behind the windows.

"Where the _hell_ are we, Klaus?!" she shrieked, vamp speeding up from the sofa on which she'd been resting.

Turning to the table next to him, he grabbed a glass of champagne which he offered to her. "Can I offer you a drink while we talk about all of this, love?" he asked her.

She smacked it out of his hand, not caring when it soaked the carpet of the plane and certainly not caring if it seemed uncivil. Hope ungracefully stifled a giggle next to her father, making him narrow his eyes. Even Rebekah, Ridley, and Vale were exchanging amused glances. Only Ezra seemed to feel truly uncomfortable about the whole scenario.

"Did you snap my neck?" she demanded.

"I would _never_ ," Klaus answered, not entirely sure himself how honest that statement was. If he'd truly been worried about her life being in imminent danger at that moment, he _may_ have considered the move himself. He would never really know and would, hopefully, never be confronted by a similar scenario. "How could you ever think for one second that I'd do anything to harm that beautiful neck of yours? You know how fond I am of it."

Next to him, Hope finally gave up on trying to be mature and made a gagging motion with her hand before leaving the seat to go watch her aunt and boyfriend play chess and get to know one another. Ridley was still watching the scene unfold with interest though. Yes, she was still intimidated by the Mikaelsons but, Klaus had ultimately let her in on his plan and, as it turned out, Ridley had a _very_ vested interest in him succeeding to convince their mutual blonde friend to go to Vegas.

"Then how the hell am I up here?" she insisted, growing angrier by the second. Part of him hated for her to be looking at him like that — with nothing but malice and rage and perhaps even a little hurt — and he had to hold his ground not to immediately lapse into his guilty-wolf look which he knew very well she thought was charming. It would have been a cheap tactic.

"You can thank your friend Ko, actually. Hayato too," he said, hating even the sound of the other man's name though he had _no_ reason to expect that Caroline harboured feelings for him beyond friendship. "They're on the radio now…"

" _Caroline?"_ Ko's staticy voice broke through. Caroline raced into the cockpit where she immediately pulled on a set of headphones, slamming the door shut behind her for a long conversation. _"Just hear us out okay?"_ Ko began on the other end.

She came out about a half an hour later. Ko and Hayato had raked her over the coals about the danger. They'd insisted that, with her gone, the wolves would temporarily retreat and they could catch them off guard. Once they'd wiped them out, Caroline could come back. _Didn't she trust them?_ That one had stung. _Hadn't they proved they were capable at running the city too?_ That one as well.

But no, she insisted that they be taken down. The hybrid pilot in the cockpit next to her had informed her that Klaus had ordered the plane be kept circling Chiang Mai for awhile. They weren't headed to Vegas yet.

"Alright, nice try but no cigar," Caroline said as she emerged from the cockpit after ending her radio call with Ko. "We're going back _now."_

She saw the visible disappointment flash on Ridley's face. Though she'd earlier been bested by Hope, Klaus's daughter had gone out of her way to invite Ridley into the fold while they waited for Caroline to awaken. She wanted to know all about what they did for fun in Chiang Mai and then launched into great detail about parties in Vegas, leaving out _a lot_ of important details thanks to her father's presence. Vale and Ezra had been friendly too; Vale was adorable but clearly head over heels for Hope. Ezra, though, was the most guarded. She kept glancing towards Caroline uncomfortably.

"I want to offer you a deal Caroline," Klaus said firmly. His tone did nothing to placate her wrath.

"There is no deal in the _world,_ Klaus, and I don't care what you or Ko has to say about it," Caroline fumed. "Now get us back down to Chiang Mai this instant!"

"Caroline, two of my hybrids have agreed to reside in Chiang Mai _permanently_ ," Klaus said. "They are willing to help in your research."

That did get her attention. Hybrid blood was one of the few things they hadn't been able to use in their research yet. They'd never had access to it over all these years. Still, _that_ wasn't going to make her agree to leave. She opened her mouth to continue her protest but he interrupted her.

"Additionally, if you agree to accompany me in Las Vegas for six months to aid in _our_ research," Klaus said, "I will see to it that a modest supply of my blood is delivered to Chiang Mai each month for as long as you request."

"You're blood?" she asked. She couldn't believe it.

"To do with as you see fit… you can use it to research a cure or just as protection against your problem with the wolves," he offered. "You were, yourself, bitten just today. Wouldn't you like to protect your friends?"

Caroline couldn't shake herself of the feeling that Klaus had just offered her something more profound than he'd ever even _considered_ giving to anyone else.

"It's only six months," Ridley said softly next to her. Caroline sighed. She already knew Ridley's vote. Ridley had never left Chiang Mai before.

Caroline pinched the bridge of her nose while she considered it. Six months seemed like a very a long time to leave her home. But she _had_ been in that city for over 60 years.

"Alright," she said finally. "Six months and not a day longer. That should be plenty of time to get you up to speed on our research but we'll have to work hard. This is all about exchanging lab notes."

She said it like she was lecturing him already. The thought made him grin. Caroline couldn't help the fact that her knees felt like jelly when she saw his dimples again. She actually had to turn _away_ and stop looking at him. She did so under the guise of turning to look at Ridley but, Caroline had a pretty good feeling that both of them had seen the emotion in her eyes.

"Yes ma'am," Klaus replied immediately, pleased by her reaction to his smile. Ridley was smiling too, sharing an excited squeal with Ezra and Hope before casting a knowing glance towards Caroline. Care wasn't the type to be bullied or bribed — or any combination of the two — into doing something she didn't want to do. Which meant, deep down, some part of Caroline genuinely did want to visit Vegas for six months. Ridley didn't even dare to speculate the reasons why at this point, although it was becoming incredibly clear…

Hope couldn't really believe her dad had pulled it off but Rebekah wasn't surprised. Caroline was fooling herself if she was still denying the magnetism between herself and Nik. Her brother had bought himself a fair amount of time with the woman but, honestly, Rebekah was betting that Caroline's walls would come down a lot sooner than six months.

When the two blondes made eye contact, Rebekah could very clearly see that Caroline was currently worrying over the very same thing.

* * *

 **I seriously considered titling this chapter "Freaking Moses!" Apologies if Hope's magic wasn't sufficiently explained or performed. Again, this is not a Hope-centric story and, you know, Klaroline can't be hanging out on creepy islands all day. The plot needed to progress.**

 **Guys, I am so heartbroken to leave Chiang Mai. I have never been attached to a story like this and leaving this underground fantasy is as hard for me as it must be to Caroline in my story. However, it was always my intention to relocate her to Vegas pretty quickly and I'm like 95% positive we'll come back to Chiang Mai again. Plus, there is still a lot of post-apocalyptic world left out there to see! ;)The next chapter should be lots of fun… Will it warrant an M rating quite yet? No but, I promise to keep that request in mind.**

 **Thanks so much to everyone for their kind words; I can't wait to get your feedback and your extremely positive response is _entirely_ responsible for the quick update. This fic has been really fun for me to write and getting your feedback only makes the experience more fun and helps drive me! **


	7. Viva Vegas

" _Best believe this city has just what you need_

 _Come and play, there's no place you would rather be…_

 _...You can come to the city of sin and leave without bail,_

 _But if you living in the city, oh, you already in hell," -_ Shamir, _Vegas._

 _ **7**_

 _ **Viva Vegas**_

When their plane was finally approaching Vegas several hours later — with the little patchwork engine that Vale and Ezra had built following behind, piloted by a single hybrid — it was night. Thus, when they began to approach their home, it was all any of the LV natives could do not to roll their eyes simultaneously.

The famous Vegas Strip, for the first time in _decades,_ was completely lit up. Simultaneously, they all knew: Klaus must have called ahead on the radio with instructions to turn everything on. Very, _very_ occasionally, Klaus would turn on the main light of The Luxor: the powerful beam that rose from the tip of his palace's pyramid. Vampires out in the darkness of The Waste would watch it at night and make up stories about what went on in the mysterious Royal Family's home. Vale had always suspected Klaus turned it on when he felt he needed to remind the other vampires of his presence.

Going all out on their energy capabilities for this stunt said one of two things... Either Klaus was pulling out all the stops to impress Caroline _or_ he'd been a bit threatened by the practically utopian success of _her_ city and wanted to make Vegas look better than it actually was. Likely, it was a combination of the two. These possibilities were abundantly obvious to everyone in the plane except Ridley and Caroline.

Ridley had only ever heard storiesabout places like Miami or New Orleans or Vegas. Stories of the party cities of the Americas, in their heyday, had always fascinated her. Looking out the window onto the stunningly bright and sparkling land of neon that beckoned to them enchantingly, Vegas looked like everything that had ever been promised to Ridley times ten. And after all these years in the darkness of the caves, who knew the dead of night could be so _very, gloriously, blindingly bright?_

Caroline couldn't help but be mesmerized as well. She'd had no special attachment to Vegas before the Inferno or the floods. She'd shared some fun times there with her ex-husband but the city had never held any intrinsic appeal… not like Chiang Mai had, long before they'd been forced underground.

But it had been _so_ long since she'd been back to the mainland of her birth home that Caroline had forgotten that she had even missed it. And flying into this _iconic_ image of what people used to consider one of America's most famous cities, it was enough to almost bring tears to her eyes. A part of her couldn't help but feel like something had clicked into place. She'd had so many friends and family in this land over her life…

Klaus was watching her tenderly from the window next to her. Yes, he had gotten on the radio ahead of their arrival to have them light up the Strip. There was more than just _that_ awaiting them too. He knew Caroline said she was here to work but, he got the distinct feeling that _all_ she'd been doing since moving to Chiang Mai was work. They'd get to the research later; what harm would one night of freedom do them? _After all,_ he thought to himself while he gazed at her, _I think I've more than earned the right to celebrate your return after waiting for you so patiently all these years…_

Caroline couldn't have heard his thoughts, of course, but she could see the way he was intensely staring at her in her peripheral vision and the heat of his ardor was enough to make her melt into the seat on the spot. Doing her best to compose herself and disguise her enthusiasm and excitement, Caroline whirled away from the window to face the other companions in the aircraft.

"I must admit, it's startling to see that it looks exactly the same after all this time," she said.

Vale and Ezra had to stifle laughs and even Rebekah looked a tad uncomfortable. _Right,_ exactly _the same._

"We don't keep it on all the time," Klaus admitted. "But tonight we are having a little celebration. I thought we should do it up properly."

"A celebration?" Caroline asked with a suspiciously quirked eyebrow. After everything they'd been through today, Klaus wanted to take her to a party?

But, next to her, Caroline could sense Ridley's growing excitement. She wasn't about to rain on her parade just to put Klaus in his place. Not to mention… maybe a little booze and dancing wouldn't be _the worst_ way to unwind?

Hope could barely believe it. Rebekah and Kol often let it slip that her father had gone through his decadent phases over the centuries but, Hope had seen no trace of that side of him while growing up. Where would he even host a party? Certainly not at The Luxor. Better question: Who would he even invite?

The plane made a discernable tilt downwards. It seemed that they were about to land.

* * *

A limo was waiting for them at the tarmac. Hopping excitedly from it, once they'd exited the back of the jet, was none other than Kol Mikaelson. He looked exactly the same as he had when Caroline had last seen him in Mystic Falls back in the 21st century — the only difference was that his hair was bleach blonde and _glowing_ phosphorescent in the night sky around them. But apparently even this change was new.

"Kol, what the bloody hell have you done to your hair?" Rebekah asked in a chastising tone that only slightly covered her grin.

"Obviously the second I was told we were having a party, I decided it would be a grand idea if I dolled myself up tonight," Kol replied easily while his eyes alighted on Caroline without surprise. "Hello, Caroline Forbes."

"Hello, Kol Mikaelson," she replied, just as easily. In truth, when Hope had arrived, Caroline hadn't a clue which Mikaelsons were still around. She'd always assumed that she would have heard if Klaus had been defeated but… Rebekah, Kol, Elijah? She was only confirming their existence now.

And then, behind her, Kol spotted Ridley. Suddenly the casual and teasing grin was wiped from his face. But, due to the fact that Kol had always had much more of a vested interest in Bonnie Bennett than Klaus ever had, he immediately recognized that, though very similar looking, they were not actually doppelgangers. Bonnie had had rich brown eyes that would frequently look green in certain lights; Ridley's were a deep and encompassing sapphire so dark that her eyes almost looked black.

"Ah, so I see the Bennett witches are still alive and kicking!" Kol next exclaimed, "One of the few covens to have survived the disease after all these years. She must be very powerful indeed!"

Ridley didn't know what to do with that statement. She'd been distracted by the light of the moon when Kol had first mentioned her. At first she was just surprised to think that he knew who she was but, that very quickly turned into embarrassment. The memory of Hope handing Ridley her own ass was still fresh in Ridley's mind so, she did not feel very powerful at all currently.

"Not much of a coven these days, it would seem," Rebekah told him lowly, not in a mean tone, just expressing the truth of the matter. Ridley was the last Bennett left.

"The last surviving Bennett…" Kol mused for a moment, punctuating the lingering thought with a disappointed click of his tongue. He then swooped forward and past Caroline to grasp Ridley's hand and place a quick kiss to her knuckles while maintaining steady eye contact. "And what is the beautiful witch's name?"

Ridley, who had unconsciously let out a sharp little intake of breath at having an Original vamp speed directly in front of her, completely without warning. She was excited to be in Vegas but she wasn't too sure about this family… they were intimidating. Hope had witch powers beyond anything she'd ever seen. The same went for their vampire traits. She could only guess the wolf halves of Hope and Klaus were also much stronger than typical werewolves, rabid or not.

"Ridley," she said. "Nice to meet you, Kol."

She honestly hadn't known that this was possible but, without saying another word, Kol gave her a _wink_ that perfectly expressed the thought: _You have no idea. The pleasure is mine._ And made Ridley feel excited and vaguely uneasy all at once.

Hope made a motion to enter the limo waiting for them and get going while everyone was suitably distracted but her Uncle Kol had her playfully headlocked quicker than she could even get to the car. Hope may have been a Hybrid but her aunts and uncles were still over a thousand years older than her it often felt like she'd never gain enough experience to catch up to theirs.

"Ah, ah, ah little niece! While I do very much enjoy your penchant for trickery and escape — which you _obviously_ inherited from me," Kol began. "Even I had my doubts about your safety on an unannounced trip of this magnitude. Don't worry us like that again. Although, I can't say I'm _not_ pleased to see everything you've brought home."

He said that last part a bit lewdly and, though it was primarily directed at Bonnie, Klaus couldn't help but growl jealously as if he was referring to Caroline. At the sound, Caroline rolled her eyes. She had been just about to warn Kol to keep his paws off her best friend when the attention had been redirected to Hope. Caroline turned around to take in the vista of the Nevada desert around them.

As she turned from side to side, making out the dunes easily in this extremely bright night sky, Klaus came into her line of vision. Everyone was packing into the limo, now, but he paused when they caught each other's eye. Caroline wasn't sure what she was expecting from him but, what she got surprised her. He only offered her a small and genuine smile — one that radiated tenderness and contentedness — before holding out a hand to invite her into the car first.

When she took a seat beside Ridley in the limo — who was squealing excitedly over the whole setup as she'd never even _been_ in a car when living in the caves — Caroline couldn't help but catch Klaus's eye again. This time it was on purpose. He was still staring at her the same way, like he wa just happy to see her there and he wasn't thinking or plotting anything beyond that in this moment. She was shocked at her emotional response; she was _touched_. Quickly upset with her own reaction, Caroline quickly redirected her attention to outside the window. Klaus looked content because Hope was home; it had nothing to do with herself _._

But soon enough, her attention was genuinely redirected as they pulled out onto the strip.

At first, it had genuinely hurt their eyes, both Ridley and Caroline's. The flood of neon and pulsating lights was magnificently shinier than anything Caroline had seen in a very long time. For Ridley, it was the most amazing thing she'd seen _ever_.

And because Ridley didn't know any better, she didn't sense how strange it was to see these famous Vegas streets abandoned. Passing the Bellagio, Caroline recognized the famous fountains but, no tourists were gathered round to see them. The grand entryway at the Ceasers Palace was twinkling as they approached but, there wasn't a single rowdy gambler huddled outside its doors. The whole city was abandoned. It was like walking into a carnival after hours when all the rides were still lit up but no one was running the show.

Then, they began to approach the glass pyramid. It was the famous Luxor Hotel. It's light was on tonight, shooting upwards to the heavens like a signal of hope. _Or of warning_ , the jaded part of Caroline's mind couldn't help but think. Suddenly someone was hurtling themselves into the seat next to her, pointing a finger outside to The Luxor.

"There," Hope said to Caroline and Ridley, "That's where my family and I live."

Caroline turned around to look at Klaus, quirking an eyebrow up at him. _Really?_ she asked him, silently.

He only chuckled in response.

"You should remember, love, that I've only ever pursued the _best_ for myself," he said, his tone dark and laced with an unmistakable double meaning.

"Are we seriously going to a party at Mikaelson Palace?" Vale asked in faux wonder.

Klaus had to suppress an expression of disgust at even hearing the boy speak. Harder still was ignoring the satirical name he'd imposed onto their home. But, for Hope's sake, all he replied with was "God lord, of course not. I'm not inviting the entirety of your _slum_ into my home! I've had them set up XS."

Hope turned around to exchange excited glances with Ezra. Caroline had no idea what XS was. She'd never visited it when last in the city before the floods. But, even seeing Rebekah grinning ear to ear at that announcement, she was pretty sure it was going to be impressive…

* * *

When they entered the club, Caroline immediately felt underdressed. Vega may have been abandoned on the streets but Klaus had still managed to attract a crowd to one of his legendary events. Caroline vaguely remembered how, after attending that first ball at his house when he'd given her that blue gown, she'd been suitably impressed with the Mikaelson's event-hosting skills and that wasn't an opinion Caroline held lightly. No one had ever been able to outdo one of her parties but, over two-centuries later, she honestly couldn't even remember the last time she'd thrown a party.

 _Goes to show, too,_ she thought to herself dryly. Even if she and Ridley _had_ been afforded the time to pack, she hadn't owned anything worthy of a night of dancing since she'd moved underground.

The huge club with gauzy draping and sexy low lighting, was blasting jazz at an obscene volume and was flooded with well over a hundred vampires. They'd all clearly dragged out their best for this and most of the women were dancing in high heels and dangerously short dresses.

"Come on," Klaus said, over the music, "Let's have a drink."

As their presence was noted, the crowds seemed to flutter even further to life in excitement at seeing Klaus. _That's him!_ was the most prominent whisper and Caroline gathered that he was not much in the public eye these days. Soon enough, though, eyes began to alight on her and Ridley and both of them could _feel_ the weight of everyone's questions. _Who the hell were these people standing alongside none other than Klaus-freaking-Mikaelson like old friends?_

Klaus began leading them across the dance floor to a flight of stairs where they were brought to a VIP balcony and found Elijah and a blonde Caroline could only assume was the famous Freya waiting for them.

Freya, never having met Caroline before, honestly could have cared less about her arrival though she knew it was going to cause a lot of drama in the days to come. For now, she just rose from her seat to pull Hope into a borderline angry hug.

"Get over here," she demanded harshly, pressing her niece into her fiercely. "Don't _ever_ do that to us again!"

Elijah, though, would plan to scold Hope at home, in private, as was polite. It would also ensure that he could have a truly _serious_ discussion with her and he would _not_ be letting her off the hook easily. While Freya reconnected with Hope, Elijah stepped forward to greet Caroline with a warm smile. He shook her hand in both of his own, like greeting an old friend.

"Miss Forbes, we are so very pleased that you will be able to visit us for awhile," Elijah said. "You _must_ tell us how you have been after all these years."

Caroline bit her tongue resisting the urge to correct her name to _Ms. Forbes._ Once you were divorced, Miss just didn't have the same sincerity to it.

"Thank you Elijah," she replied, beginning her next thought pragmatically as possible, "I must admit it was something of a shotgun decision to come here…" she turned to look at Ridley who was gazing over the balcony to the dancefloor and indoor pool with longing eyes. Hope had thrust a glass of champagne into her new friend's hand and they were clearly discussing how to make their escape to join the party. "But Ridley has never been out of Chiang Mai and ultimately I wanted her to have a new experience. Six months abroad will be good for her," Caroline finished.

Ridley shot her a winning smile before acknowledging the new Mikaelson's before her.

"I'm Ridley Bennett," she said, feeling a bit more confident, finally. Enough so to introduce herself first. She held out her hand to shake and Freya took it without hesitation, immediately seizing the opportunity to read her. Ridley looked a bit startled at the sensation, eyes widening a bit as she began to understand the power of the new witch in front of her, an _immortal_ witch, no less. Freya was smirking back at her but, beneath the smirk, Caroline could sense she was impressed. Caroline's heart couldn't help but feel a jump of pride.

 _Since when have you cared about impressing Klaus's family?_

"I'm Freya," she replied.

"Elijah," he said next. "Pleased to have you here Miss Bennett. I hope you'll enjoy yourself. Please, Hope, get our guest down to the dancefloor it's clear you're both dying to go."

The two girls squealed and ran downstairs where Vale and Ezra had been left behind to wait for them, apparently not close enough to the family to warrant an invitation to their private balcony overlooking the party like royalty.

Hope was genuinely shocked that she was being let off the hook enough to go to the party. She suspected it had something to do with the fact that Klaus could keep an eye on her while she was here.

Caroline craned her neck to follow Ridley with her eyes, watching her like a hawk. Despite being roommates and best friends for the past several years, here in this new city Caroline felt like she was raising Ridley as a child all over again. Her relationships with the Bennet daughters had always been strange and always followed the same pattern. While the girls were children, they were like mother and daughter. Ridley and her mother and her grandmother and the rest had all actually called her Mama. But around the time they became teenagers and started controlling their magic there was a discernable shift in their relationship and suddenly Caroline morphed from a mother figure to best friend or sister. It must have had something to do with the fact that she'd always look 17.

Turning back to the rest of them, it was clear the Mikaelsons were waiting for her to sit down and tell her story. And upon realizing this, Caroline promptly began to feel a little flustered. She hadn't expected to do this all by herself.

"I'm sorry," she began, making up an excuse, "But this is Ridley's first time out of the city and not only am I a little overly protective, I want to see her experience this for the first time. We don't have parties like this back at Chiang Mai." Well, it was an excuse but it wasn't _un_ true.

Klaus acknowledged her first, "Of course," he said without hesitation. "Go. You know where to find us."

She offered him a grateful smile but his disappointment was clear. Only, he seemed disappointed in _her._

That wasn't enough to stop her from running back down to Ridley, though.

* * *

"How could you tell me before _now_ that you were almost _eaten_ on The Black Lake?!" Ridley demanded a little over an hour later. At this point they were both about three shots in already; Klaus had access to a lot more and a lot nicer alcohol than they'd stocked up on in Chiang Mai. They'd been flitting between the dancefloor and the bar, stopping to get to know people along the way but, just now Hope had found them and dragged them to a lounge area of the club where the her friends were waiting.

Ezra had been preparing to finally fill in Vale and Hope on the details of what had happened out on the lake but Hope had decided to seize the opportunity to get to Caroline a little better. After all, she and her father had gone out on the same boat on that lake. Surely Caroline's side of the story would have some interesting and different insights than Ezra's?

Caroline had been preparing to ask why she was needed when Ezra was available to relive the tale but, before the words would escape her, she realized how incredibly rude that would be. Hope hadn't been anything but friendly to her since they'd met. Klaus's daughter already struck her as having her family's best traits: Kol's easy going and joking attitude, Rebekah's poise and confidence, the magical capabilities of her now famous Aunt Freya, Elijah's observancy and thoughtfulness… Klaus's strength and, somewhere beneath her youthful enthusiasm, his darkness too. Well, then again, they were all a little darker underneath these days.

"Sure," she replied, "Why not? It would do us some good to sit for awhile. We've been dancing nonstop."

"Glad you're having fun," Hope said with a smile. "But Ezra was just about to launch into the part of the story where a lake monster almost _ate_ you, and it just seemed like you should be here to tell the story too."

Caroline smiled, half genuinely warming to the girl but also still half suspicious. She didn't know what exactly Klaus's daughter was up to but she wasn't striking her as entirely genuine. However, though she was being suspicious, Caroline _also_ didn't sense any malicious intent. No, the girl seem genuinely excited to meet her, for good reasons.

That was when Ridley had launched into her, "We were on that plane for over _five hours_ and you never thought about telling me then?" she demanded.

Caroline grimaced, "Look, Ridley, I'm sorry but I was in the middle of leaving the city I've been building, and the only home I've known, for the last 60 years… I had a few things to get figured out!"

Ridley looked sufficiently chastised at that. And Caroline began the story without further interruption.

She was just getting to the part where they felt something press up against the rubber bottom of their dinghy when a new voice joined the conversation.

"Then a look of complete horror overcame her face and we all simultaneously felt our hearts drop at the same time," Klaus continued from behind her, placing two hands on the back of her chair. "And she tells us: _There's something under the boat."_

Ridley eyes went wide with a sickened sort of look and Klaus plopped himself onto a chair next to her and across from Caroline without invitation.

"Sorry to interrupt, love," Klaus said, "But I do believe I've earned the right to tell this tale as well."

Elijah and Kol had accompanied him downstairs, more to size up the awed looks from the swarm of dancing vampires around them than anything else. Everyone had been confused about this party tonight, even more so now that two new people had shown up, one of them a _mortal_ witch. Now, seeing the Mikaelsons out of their private balcony and on the main floor with the rest of them, whispers were being exchanged fervently.

Klaus ignore it and began to continue the story. Kol was listening in rapt attention within moments. He was the perfect audience member, making loud and overblown reactions to almost every twist in the story. It was making Caroline, Ridley, and Hope laugh so, Klaus didn't even mind the interruptions. Elijah was listening in in interest as well. Though the adventure was undeniable, he himself was more interested in learning about their problems with the wolves and what kind of life inhabited to underground territory.

Her story stolen, Klaus turned out to have a sort of artistic flair for storytelling and he was enthralling to watch. Kol kept them laughing so often, too, that Caroline could never worry herself about focusing on Klaus too long.

A waitress arrived from nowhere, refilling all their drinks and depositing a bottle of champagne as the story began to come to a close. Klaus had just finished explaining their return from the lake. They all knew what came next. Caroline's neck was snapped and Klaus went in search of Ridley.

Kol could sense the impending awkwardness in the upcoming lapse of conversation so, as usual, he steamrolled through it. Elijah rolled his eyes at Kol's behavior, too familiar with his brother's behavior not to realize what he was doing. Sometimes it seemed as if no one but himself in this family understood the value of using your words sparingly. They held more power when you did.

"Well, let's get into the _really_ good stuff!" he announced. "What's everyone been up to the pat two hundred years? Ridley? What happened to your family? Did dear old grandma Bonnie ever get married?"

Elijah audibly scoffed at his brother's brazenness and even Klaus looked annoyed.

"Kol…" he growled out in a low warning.

Ridley just looked confused. Why would he care about something that specific? Out of all the questions he could have about the Bennett line over the centuries, he wanted to know if Caroline's old friend had been married? Suddenly it all clicked into place. Kol Mikaelson had a _thing_ for good old grandma Bonnie. Knowing this made him a hell of a lot less intimidating.

"Bennett witches have a tendency not to marry," Ridley said. "Bonnie apparently started something of a fad… or a curse."

"Or impressive legacy," Caroline corrected. "No one _needs_ a man."

Klaus chuckled and Caroline ignored it.

"Says divorce's greatest proponent," Ridley commented dryly. Caroline threw her a swift glare and Ridley's eyes just taunted her in return. Oh she _knew_ what she was doing. Had she and Hope had some kind of talk?

 _Divorced?_ Hope couldn't help but wonder. She exchanged a look with Vale. No one had mentioned that Caroline used to be _married_.

"Hey, I enjoyed being married," Caroline defended. "I just didn't need it! My ex and I get along _great!"_ Suddenly, she seemed to startle and remember who she was speaking in front of. She glanced anxiously over to Hope and Vale with a laugh before awkwardly looking down into her drink so she wouldn't have to make eye contact with Klaus. "Sorry about that! Too much information…"

"No! Not at all," Hope said, wanting to get whatever information she could. "I'm a _big_ oversharer myself."

Next to them, Klaus had grown anxiously still. He was rigid, his every muscle taut as he listened to this turn in the conversation poised ike a tightly strung bow waiting for release.

* * *

 **Oh man guys, I am sorry about that. I know that's a really evil place to leave you and I'm sorry (#SorryI'mNotSorry) to do it. But, I'm about to have four days off from work coming up and hearing from readers is a sure-fire way to inspire an update. Maybe even two updates! Four days is a lot of time off.**

 **Aw, Hope doesn't think her Dad is cool. Maybe, at a later point, I'll make them have a heart-to-heart where she says "But Dad, you're the coolest person I know!" Like out of a goddam John Hughes movie.**

 **Next chapter will have a lot more Klaus POV, some revelations ;), and much more Klaroline!**


	8. The Sun

" _Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth," - Buddha_

 _ **8**_

 _ **The Sun**_

Klaus was too self aware not to know what he was doing with Caroline. He was Great Gatsby-ing her. Though, that wasn't the particular term he would've chosen to describe his technique; no, Kol had come up with that turn of phrase when Klaus had radioed him on the plane ride home with instructions on setting up the celebration.

" _Really, Klaus?"_ Kol had asked from the other end of the radio line, about three hours before they'd arrived home. " _Are you seriously trying to 'Great Gatsby' Caroline Forbes?"_

"Shut up and get it _done_ ," was all he'd had the patience to respond with.

Kol merely snickered at him over the radio. " _Well alright but, let me remind you… that story ended_ tragically _!"_

Things were already going considerably better for himself and Caroline than the lead characters from the Fitzgerald novel, though, if he did say so himself. Not only had he managed to survive the roaring 20's, he'd lasted through the 21st century… the apocalypse. And Caroline certainly wasn't sitting around playing anyone's perfect little depressed housewife.

Klaus had been surprised how easy it had been to convince her to return to Vegas with him and, he suspected, most of his success had to do with Ridley Bennett. Caroline _clearly_ thought of the young witch like her daughter and, since the witch was so anxious to leave Chiang Mai, it hadn't be _too_ difficult to convince her to join them.

Caroline had also obviously spent almost too many decades in the dark. Klaus could tell that from the moment Caroline's had lit up in awe at seeing the Vegas Strip alight in its former glory. She may have had every right to be extremely proud of the community she'd built underground but, it also seemed clear to Klaus that she'd stopped truly taking care of herself. Then again, from everything he remembered about Caroline from when they'd first met, that was kind of her modus operandi… looking out for the people she cared about _always_ above herself, to a fault.

When they'd arrived at XS with a party in full swing (Klaus not caring a fig about whatever persuasion techniques his siblings had needed to use to get everyone from The Waste here), he'd abruptly begun to worry. He'd saw a shadow of doubt pass over Caroline's features as she gazed out upon the crowd in front of them and he knew she felt under-dressed. He briefly wondered if he should have had Rebekah or Freya bring something extra with them… something she'd look stunning in, like the blue gown he'd given her all those years ago. _Did she still have it?_ But before he could think about any of that any further, the doubt had disappeared from Caroline's face and she was back to taking in Ridley's enthusiasm.

Ridley's unbridled grin was making Caroline smile which was, in turn, making it very difficult for _Klaus_ not to light up. It was something they had in common as parents; he'd taken great joy in watching Hope take similar delight in various surprises over the years. But, here, in front of all these _guests_ who he didn't entirely trust, Klaus still was loathe to show any new weaknesses.

When he'd taken her up to show her the rest of his clan was alive and well, he'd been almost proud to see how easily she acclimated to their presence, not even behaving outright guarded like the old Caroline would have. But then, unfortunately, when left alone with them she'd had a change of heart and turned tail to run.

He gave her over an hour; not even discreetly watching her dance and enjoy herself with Ridley on the floor. His sharp hearing was able to pick up most of her conversations. Mostly she and Ridley stuck tightly together: dancing, laughing, drinking, and talking. Ridley had questions about _everything_ from the liquor they were consuming to the music they were listening to. He wasn't sure _how_ music had escaped the witch's upbringing but apparently she'd never really heard anything like this… and at this point the DJ was just playing some fairly typical classic rock that he happened to know Caroline used to be partial to.

Then, soon enough, that daughter of his was back to her _sneaking_ and, for once, he was grateful for it. He could hear her inviting Caroline and Ridley to take a break with them from the dance floor and he promptly used it as an excuse to join them. At this point in the evening, he was so desperate to talk to Caroline again that he honestly didn't _care_ what the vampires around them thought. They were little more than props for the party at this point anyway… even if they _were_ whispering theories at every turn. Nevertheless he flagged Elijah and Kol down to join him at least under the guise of it looking like a less personal talk.

 _That_ plan had quickly dissolved as well, though, when it turned out they'd all gathered round to exchange stories of their adventure in Chiang Mai. Klaus couldn't help but pick up a new thread of the story when he heard Caroline pause, he had a lot of opinions on this particular story. Most of them involving how astounded he was with Caroline's evolved bravery, quick thinking, and leadership skills. These were all things that had attracted him to her when they'd met in 2010, but she'd considerably honed and expanded her skills over the years.

Kol, being Kol, had to insert his own dramatics into the story. When Klaus reached the part where their second boat had been snapped up in the monster's jaws, leaving them abandoned on a rocky island in the middle of the lake, Kol had responded to the story by throwing his drink into Vale's face.

"What the bloody hell was _that_ for?" Vale demanded in his lilting Irish accent while Hope dissolved into fits of giggles and Ezra, Ridley, and Caroline were soon to follow.

"I was shocked and appalled at the turn of the events in the story!" Kol insisted. "I would have thrown my drink at Nik but he might have daggered me for the rest of the evening and then I wouldn't have gotten to hear the end! So, Nik? How did you get back?"

And it was good to see Caroline so clearly relaxed and enjoying spending time around himself and his family that he started to accept the fact that maybe his plan to sweep her off her feet the first night might _actually_ be succeeding.

But then their conversation had taken an awkward turn towards Caroline's marriage… admittedly a topic that Klaus was _more_ than curious about. It also happened to be a topic of conversation that invariably would infuriate him, though, and he was working hard to maintain his control now.

"I didn't know you'd been married," Hope said next, still pressing the subject.

"I wasn't even aware that you knew about me _at all_ until close to a day ago!" Caroline replied, her tone holding a hint of a warning.

Hope picked up the beer she was drinking, holding the bottle to Caroline in a fake toasting motion before taking a sip and returning, "Touche but, you were married, so what? It's not like a big secret or anything, right?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes, "No…" Ridley was still onlooking the scene bemusedly.

"Why don't we talk about this in private?" Klaus asked, gesturing towards their abandoned VIP gallery on the balcony. Rebekah and Freya had long since relocated to dance together.

"That implies that there's something to talk about. There isn't," Caroline replied with an eye roll. "I was married. I got divorced. That's pretty much the entire story."

Ridley audibly scoffed, snorting into her cocktail. The sound elicited yet another sharp look from Caroline but Ridley just smiled benignly in return, her eyes flicking around the group innocently.

"Were you happy?" Klaus asked her.

Caroline scoffed, "It doesn't matter. It's in the past!"

"It matters to _me."_

The tension in the group spiked noticeably at that statement. Elijah subtly glanced around to make sure no one was listening into their conversation but, at this point, he supposed it was somewhat inevitable and Klaus clearly cared more about getting answers.

Caroline gave an exasperated sigh, wanting to throw her hands up in the air in frustration. While some part of her couldn't help but feel a distinct tug of emotion at the fact that Klaus still cared about her happiness after all these years, she was far more concerned with the fact that he was pressing this issue in public.

"Obviously I was happy enough to marry him," she said first, "And obviously I was unhappy enough to divorce him." As far as she was concerned, that was to be the end of the discussion.

And for a moment, it was. They all took a second to awkwardly look away from each other and studiously assess their drinks as Klaus mulled over her answer. But, much like his daughter, he was not going to be easily deterred.

"It _is_ funny though," Klaus mused, disguising his jealousy as best he could, "Out of all the people I was worried about capturing your heart… _Damon Salvatore_ certainly never was one of them."

"I could say the same thing about you and a human," she replied without blinking.

He smirked up at her. _So she'd heard…_ "You were worried about someone capturing my heart? Love, I'm touched but, come on now, don't change the subject. We're talking about _you_ right now. You profess to have completely moved on from your divorce but to also maintain a steadfast and deep friendship with your ex-husband so, surely, the story of how you two _finally_ hit it off shouldn't be off limits?"

Ridley could hear the demand in Klaus's voice. This was something the guy had clearly hung onto for a _long_ time and he wanted answers. She wondered when he'd even learned of Caroline's marriage and made a mental note to ask Hope later.

Caroline rolled her eyes, still not sensing Klaus's jealousy simply because she was too caught up in her own paranoia. She'd always had an irrational sense that she needed to justify her divorce from Damon — mostly because she really hadn't dated anyone since him. It had nothing to do with a pining for Damon; it was more that marriage had been a rougher road than she thought and, once she finally found herself independent again, she was loath to give her autonomy up.

Klaus clearly wasn't going to let the issue drop and, well, better that he hear her version of the story than someone else's, right? _Doubtless, he already knows several dozen different versions of this story already though,_ she couldn't help but think. She knew Klaus had always gone out of his way to learn everything he could about her.

The honest truth was, though, that Klaus had made a point of keeping Caroline's marriage out of his head. Once he'd heard the news, he'd flown into a rage that had resulted in the loss of many an innocent life and then… he'd just fallen into a depression. Klaus had suffered many low moments in his life but, none so bad that he truly lost his _will_ … until Caroline's marriage. And strangely enough, ultimately the only thing he could think of to do to move on afterwards was entering into his own hasty sham of a marriage.

Well, _sham_ was a harsh word. He had been genuinely fond of his wife when he married her and had felt a duty to be at least a decent and faithful husband for the length of their marriage… particularly after Hope had so quickly bonded with her stepmother. But before he could keep reminiscing on the past, Caroline abruptly surprised him by acquiescing to his request and beginning her story.

"You might have heard… that shortly after Elena and my mother died, I actually _first_ started dating Stefan," she began.

Of course he'd heard that. Rebekah had been as enraged about it as he had at the time.

"That didn't last long," she continued, not waiting for him to reply. "Stefan and I quickly discovered that we were much better suited to being best friends. But, you know how it is… two immortal friends of the opposite sex-"

"-Both attractive…" Kol interrupted, raising his eyebrows at her suggestively. "You always at _least_ give it a try!"

"Right," Caroline acknowledged. Kol's tone may have been obnoxious but his assessment of the situation was pretty much on the money. "Anyway… about ten years later was when things first started getting really bad with climate change. We had the first global rain season sometime around then… and it started becoming a _way_ more pressing political issue than it ever had before."

"Yes, of course," Elijah spoke up next, "War was threatening to break out because of it."

Hope was listening in rapt attention. She didn't know what this had to do with Caroline's marriage yet but, she'd only been about eight or so when she first remembered the rains starting.

"Well, it was an issue I was very passionate about, as you can imagine," Caroline explained, "And, as it turned out, _quite_ surprisingly, Damon was too. Turned out that, as a vampire, Damon was not at all thrilled with the prospect of his world being destroyed by people who wouldn't even be around over a century to live on it… Anyway, he and I both became fairly prominent members of this environmental activist organization-"

" _-Activism?!"_ Ridley barked out with an unbelieving laugh. "That's _one_ word for it, Care."

"What's another word for it?" Klaus asked.

"Hmm, maybe… _terrorism?"_ Ridley asked with a pointed look at Caroline. Caroline had always been honest with Ridley about her past and there would always be some stories that would be hard for Ridley to stomach. That simply came with the territory of being raised by a vampire.

"Whoa, Ridley!" Caroline immediately admonished. "Terrorism is a _really_ strong word to be throwing around like that!"

Ridley shrugged because she honestly didn't know what else to call it.

"Caroline?" Klaus questioned, even more curious now. He didn't think there was anything in this story that would be more interesting than her falling for Damon Salvatore but… this certainly was an unusual turn of events. "What _activist_ organization were you and Damon a part of exactly?"

"So… you might all be familiar with this group active for most of the 21st century… it was called the Return to Eden Project?" she asked, her features already tensing at the inevitable reactions facing her.

Kol was the first to respond, letting lose a peal of intense and unbelieving laughter while everyone else looked at her with shocked eyes.

"Caroline!" Kol exclaimed as if he was extremely pleased with her, "They were a fundamentalist Christian terrorist organization! Everyone knew that!"

Hope caught her father's eye and could see something else in his expression besides just surprise though… maybe he looked at bit impressed? It certainly would bring the two of them closer to the same level. If Caroline had been working with Return to Eden… who knew what she had been capable of in her past, in the name of justice?

"Okay first of all, not _everyone_ in that group was fundamentalist _or_ Christian _or_ even religious," Caroline defended. "The main qualifier for joining was that everyone had a passion for saving the planet-"

"-Yeah, like Greenpeace on steroids-" Kol heckled, but Caroline ignored him.

"-And _obviously_ Damon and I weren't really tied up with the religious aspects of it!" Caroline finished her defense.

"So… you were more tied up with what?" Hope asked, "Like the _bombing_ aspects of it?"

Hope had been young when all this was happening but, in the centuries since then, she'd developed a keen interest in history. She supposed it was a longing for the life she'd _almost_ had. She'd made every effort to learn everything she could about the world now forever behind them… and that included major organizations like Return to Eden.

Caroline's deer-caught-in-the-headlights response was all Hope needed to see for Hope to know she'd hit the mark with that guess.

"You say it like we were targeting innocent civilians!" Caroline shot back. "We would never have done that. We were going after oil rigs in the arctic… fracking lines on the American coasts…"

Hope was about to lay into her with another question when Klaus held his hand up to stop her.

"Alright, that's _enough_ ," he said. "We started this conversation to catch up on personal matters, not political. And, Return to Eden has been a firmly dissolved organization for _many_ years now so I hardly see the need to keep pressing the subject."

Caroline looked over to him gratefully, "Thank you, Klaus."

"Of course," he replied simply before directing a harsh look to everyone surrounding him.

But. Elijah, who had been silent for most of her explanation, put his support far more eloquently.

"I think that most of _you_ would well know, after all these years," Elijah finally added to the conversation, "That both immortality and the apparent apocalypse have caused all of us to do things we never would have expected… or even regret."

"Cheers to that Elijah," Caroline told him before raising her glass to him and quickly downing what was left of her Manhattan. "Now, I know I've started a story only to leave it unfinished but, you'll excuse me. After the decidedly interrogatory turn this conversation took, I'm a bit worn out. Now you know that Damon and I bonded over mutual political philosophies… I'll save the story of our divorce for another day! Maybe never, because that one really _is_ none of your business."

With that, she promptly stood up from the group all by herself and began to wander back over to the bar for another drink.

"Are you always so hard on her about her past?" Klaus asked Ridley. His tone was without malice; he was just trying to better understand the dynamics of their relationship.

"Are _you_ always so demanding when you want to know her personal business?" Ridley returned with complete confidence. Either it was just the alcohol fueling her new-found bravery or the few hours she'd spent celebrating with the Mikaelsons had lulled her into a false sense of security. Either way, Klaus wasn't in the mood to make an issue out of her insolence when Caroline was already out of sorts.

"Yes," he answered her question simply.

"Yes," she answered his in turn.

Well, she said it with such a note of finality that, that was apparently the end of that discussion. Hope couldn't help but look over at the girl fondly. She could appreciate anyone who could hold their own with her father. Even Vale couldn't say that.

* * *

Though the party was likely still raging long after they departed, Klaus and his family and their new guests left XS not long after their talk. Since Hope and her friends had initially arrived in Chiang Mai, Caroline and Ridley had been awake for nearly 24 hours. This normally would be fine with Caroline, who had learned to go weeks without sleeping over the years when she needed to but, Ridley was still mortal and she was clearly reaching her limit by the time they began to head out.

Initially, Caroline was carrying the clearly drunk and exhausted girl out the doors herself but Kol quickly swept her into his own arms.

"Now, now, Caroline," he said. "You're our guest! If we throw a rager that gets your daughter drunk… then by all means, it's on us to get her home safely."

"We've been over the fact that she's a Bennett… you _know_ she's not really my daughter, right?" Caroline asked. Sure she had raised Ridley but, in the past five or more years, Ridley had grown up enough to start referring to her as Caroline instead of Mom. Caroline was used to the pattern by now; all of Bonnie's descendents began thinking of her as more of a peer than a mother sooner or later.

But, when she asked him that, Kol just turned around to give her a _yeah-sure_ sort-of look. She gathered that he somehow understood that she's always think of Ridley as her daughter, no matter how much Ridley grew up.

"She's really been up for too long," Caroline explained on Ridley's behalf, "Not to mention, we don't _nearly_ have the same kind of alcohol choices accessible in Chiang Mai."

"Good god, what do you do for fun?" Hope asked, in complete seriousness.

Caroline laughed as they all began to slide their way into the limo they had arrived in, "Well, Hayato still has a pretty large stockpile of Sake from when he and Ko were still living in Japan-"

"-When Japan still _existed,_ you mean?" Rebekah asked, interrupting. She and Freya had re-joined their group now that they were headed home. Only Ezra and Vale were not with them. They would be returning to their neighborhood instead of being invited back to The Luxor.

"Yes, when Japan still existed," she rectified. "Anyway, she seemed to be a little enamored with vodka… kept saying over and over again, completely amazed, ' _It doesn't taste like anything!'"_

Kol snickered at that before quickly agreeing, "She's right. It _doesn't_ taste like anything. Still one of the most amazing inventions to date, I'd say!"

"Well, then I'm sure you two will become fast friends," she said, immediately regretting the words as soon as they came out of her mouth. She knew Kol had a thing for witches and, more specifically, the Bennett witches. He didn't need any encouragement. But, if he'd taken it that way, he luckily didn't acknowledge it.

Caroline was too focused on the world passing by them outside their limo again to notice but, Klaus's attention was wholly focused onto herself for the entirety of the quiet ride back to their home. His attention remained focused on her as they approached The Luxor (still lit up, of course, even as the impending daylight hours encroached), desperately wanting to see what she made of his new home.

Unfortunately, she was so tired herself after the day's trials, that even once she was inside the magnificent space of The Luxor, she couldn't stop looking after Ridley.

"I hope you don't mind if we just go to bed…" she began, turning to Klaus.

He waved off her concerns immediately, "Of course, we already have a suite set up for you."

They took a long elevator up to the top of the pyramid, rising at a slight and almost indiscernible angle. Kol accompanied them, still insisting on carrying Ridley. And Caroline, as tired as she was, could have sworn she saw Kol looking down at the witch with confusion several times. She wasn't sure if he was more surprised at how much she looked like Bonnie or just that the Bennetts were still around period.

When they arrived to the room, Klaus opened the already unlocked door to usher them into one of the most enormous and luxurious hotel suites Caroline had ever been in. She could see upon entering that there were multiple rooms. The first room the doors opened to was a small living room and private bar area that opened onto a large balcony overlooking the city.

Any chance she had to get a good look around, though, was abruptly ruined by Kol who assuredly making his way through the suite and kicking open a door to the large bedroom. Inside lay what looking to be maybe a California King sized bed, which Kol promptly lay Ridley on top of.

"Well, there you are!" Kol said presently, "Now, I've spent _far_ too much time around a human tonight without feeding so, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take care of that!"

Without further explanation, he sped from the room. Caroline was left alone with Klaus and her passed out friend.

"Do your accommodations look suitable?" he asked her, looking noticeably smug. Clearly he understood that the rooms he was offering her were far more sumptuous than _anything_ they'd had available back in Chiang Mai.

Currently, though, she was too tired to make an issue out of this.

"It all looks wonderful," she said. "Thank you and we'll talk in the morning."

Klaus wasn't used to being excused before he was ready but, because this was Caroline and also because he knew very well everything she'd weathered in the past hours, he let it slide.

"Goodnight," he told her, as he exited out of the bedroom of the suite, pulling the doors to the room shut behind him.

"Goodnight," she replied to his retreating form before taking a look at the passed out girl on her bed.

After quickly assessing that Ridley was indeed just asleep and still breathing normally, Caroline crawled into bed beside her and passed out.

* * *

Ridley woke very early the next morning. The thing about living underground as a human was that it completely changed your sleep cycles. So Ridley woke up just a few hours after she'd been taken back to The Luxor when she had first passed out. At first, she just assumed that she was in the throes of a bad hangover. But, the moment she opened her eyes, she knew something much more severe was wrong. Waking from her restless and drunken slumber, Ridley opened her eyes to see the true intensity of the sunlight for the first time in her life and… immediately she screamed out in pain.

Caroline, still well under the protection of the daylight ring she'd never taken off even during her decades underground, bolted up instantly at the sound. Neither of them were still on the bed. After having slept on their firm pallets and pillows on the floor of the Chiang Mai caves for so long, neither one of them was used to the overwhelming softness of a mattress anymore. Even in her drunken stupor, Ridley had woken up to request that Caroline rectify the situation.

Unable to fall asleep herself, Caroline had immediately agreed to Ridley's request and moved the mountains of pillows on their bed into a nest on their floor where they could both sleep.

And, just a few hours later, that was exactly where Klaus found them when he came storming into the room to decipher the source of the commotion. Ridley was writing around in pain in the midst of the pillows while Caroline was dashing up from their spot to pull the drapes shut. Despite closing the curtains, the harsh sunlight still filtered in enough to keep Ridley whimpering.

"What the bloody hell is going on?!" Klaus demanded, gesturing to both the pillows on the floor and Ridley's trembling body.

"I'm _so_ stupid," Caroline responded as she raced back over to Ridley to cradle the girl in her arms, talking more to herself than she was to Klaus. "Ridley was _born_ in Chiang Mai, underground. She's only ever been exposed to fake UV lights… and the _actual_ sun a handful of times. She's sick from the exposure!"

The drapes were already closed, thanks to Caroline but, Klaus was immediately tearing open his wrist and offering it to Ridley. Hybrid blood could cure _almost_ any sickness, minus anything that was related to cancer, including C-Flu. Ridley's mouth instinctively leaned up to capture the cure for her pain but Caroline pushed him back from the girl in a clean and fluid motion.

" _NO!"_ she all but roared at Klaus. "Ridley will not ever have vampire blood in her system until she requests it. I'm not putting that choice on her!"

"Well then, what do you suggest we do?" Klaus asked the simultaneously concerned for and enraged with Caroline.

"Do you have a basement?" she asked frantically and he nodded his affirmation, "Get her there now. Get her sunglasses, suntan lotion, whatever you can think of…"

Klaus didn't even take the time to say ' _Done.'_ Ridley was in his arms and they were out of the room in the next second.

* * *

Hope approached Caroline a few hours later outside. Caroline was standing outside at The Luxor's pool looking up at the sky with sunglasses on. Hope had honestly expected Caroline to get to work right away when she arrived in Vegas but, apparently, the sunlight and outdoors were simply too much of a novelty after all this time to be ignored.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," Hope said, stepping up behind her. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you out in the daylight again for a few days. I heard from my Dad that the initial wake-up didn't go too well?"

Caroline turned around with a grimace, "Ridley is _still_ hiding. Growing up in the caves is all she's ever really known. I think she's also just a little overwhelmed… the world is turning out to be a lot bigger than I ever could have described to her."

The thought made Caroline's throat tighten painfully. She hadn't wanted to keep Ridley, or any of Bonnie's children for that matter, from living full lives. But what other alternative was there while most of the world was still in flames and Ridley would always be at risk of catching the disease?

"She'll be used to it in no time, you'll see," Hope assured her. "I like Ridley. She's smart and she's excited to be here. She's tough too." _She also has more power than she's even somewhat aware of_ , Hope thought to herself, not quite sure if that observation would be interpreted as threatening or not. Caroline was clearly fiercely protective of Ridley.

"I think you're right about that," Caroline said with a smile. "I think this will be good for her."

She turned again to keep looking out over Vegas. Currently she was facing the now decrepit looking Sphinx, which hadn't weathered the decades of sandstorms well.

"Well, what do you think?" Hope asked her after a few minutes.

Caroline sighed, putting a hand to her forehead to further shield her eyes from the glare of the light. With her other hand propped on her hip, she gave Hope's question some thought.

"I think… that I never thought I'd see this again," Caroline admitted.

"The vistas of Tatooine?" Hope asked jokingly with a grand sweeping gesture towards the abandoned city in front of them.

Caroline looked at her with an unimpressed look. "Star Wars? Really?"

Hope shrugged. "When Klaus Mikaelson decides to keep you under lock and key in a giant glass pyramid for a hundred something years… you have a lot of free time to indulge in pop culture from the past," she said before her expression suddenly turned more serious. "It's one of the only ways I can even feel like I know what it was like… to have lived in the world _before."_

"Yeah, I get that," Caroline said, nodding. "You know what? We couldn't really play music in Chiang Mai. The sound would echo too loudly in the caves and attract the rabid wolves. Last night at that party was one of the first times I've heard rock music in nearly 60 years."

Hope swallowed a shocked expletive at this revelation. She couldn't imagine going that long without music. Perhaps Chiang Mai wasn't as idyllic as they had initially assumed.

"They played the Rolling Stones last night," Caroline continued. " _Gimme Shelter_. It's been stuck in my head ever since and I've just been out here looking at the sun and hearing that song in my head and… I just really didn't know if I'd ever be doing something like this again." She ended the speech with a half-hearted shrug.

Hope was about to reply, about to tell Caroline that she was glad she decided to come back with them when, a third voice interrupted their conversation.

"I do believe I _knew_ you were a Stones fan, love," Klaus supplied next, arriving behind them completely silently as always.

* * *

 **Well! The first controversial reveal! I know everyone hates Damon for what he did to Caroline and I do too BUT, I am a very firm believer that a vampire's perception of time would be able to drastically reshape their relationships as needed over the years, even within as little as a decade. And, it's not like they** _ **stayed**_ **married. They got a divorce so, you know, they both ended up figuring out it was a mistake. Also, I hate Steroline, the end.**

 **I believe in an earlier chapter I said Caroline was married in 2025 so I've gone back to change that to 2023. I realize that's just a two year difference but I've got 200+ years of made-up history / future to keep track of here. So, if I don't keep my dates straight, I'm gonna drive myself insane.**

 **Also, I dunno is** _ **any**_ **of this stuff is right about climate change, I'm just making it up as a go! Most of what I have going on is more for purposes of the plot than for scientific accuracy, unfortunately.**

 **Finally, chapter 9 is already ¾ done. I'm just looking for an excuse to finish and post it! ;)**


	9. A Sunny Afternoon

" _And though I may be getting older, know that I'm going with you. Know that I'm hanging on to the things that you said," -_ Some things Cosmic, _Angel Olsen_

 _ **9**_

 _ **A Sunny Afternoon**_

Both women turned around simultaneously at the sound of Klaus's approach. Caroline ignored whatever intimation he was trying to make about knowing her musical preferences. Instead, she immediately checked in on her best friend.

"How is she?" Caroline asked, referring to Ridley.

"She's already doing much better," Klaus assured her. "If she just starts being exposed to slightly higher levels of sunlight each day she should acclimate in no time."

"How are we supposed to control the intensity of the sun out here?" Hope asked, slightly obnoxiously.

Klaus smiled, well aware of Hope's penchant for attempting to find flaws in any and all of his plans for nothing more than the sake of being contrary. "We can't, obviously but, we can control when she's brought outside. We were thinking we'd take her out shortly before sunset tonight. And maybe half an hour earlier than that the following evening."

"That sounds like a plan," Caroline said with a clearly still-worried shrug. The truth was that she had plenty of experience acclimating new refugees of any species to the darkness but, never vice versa. No one really left Chiang Mai for any reason after moving there, except very occasional visitors, until this trip. "Where is she right now? I should probably check on her-"

Klaus put up a hand gently asking her to wait when she made a motion to leave their group collected around the pool.

"She is truly fine, love," he reassured. "She's with Kol in a conference room on the first floor without windows. We've had pillows brought in and she's just relaxing until she feels better. Which reminds me, was the bed in your suite not to your liking?"

Caroline had to refocus on his question, somewhat alarmed with the fact that Ridley was left alone with Kol Mikaelson. Internally she had to groan - _that_ was something she was going to need to keep an eye on. "Oh, uh, well it's just that we've been sleeping on the cave floors for so many decades…" she finally answered, somewhat sheepishly thinking about the mess he'd caught this morning, "In the initial relocation efforts when building the underground, things like mattresses were not really on our list as a necessary use of space. The cave system wasn't always as big as it is today."

Hope and Klaus exchanged quick glances, assessing the meaning of that. So those massive caverns _had_ been mostly designed and carved by Caroline's team.

"Well we can certainly provide you with more suitable rooms-" Klaus began but Caroline waved him off.

"I'll probably just stay with Ridley in the room you've got set up for her now. That should be fine."

Klaus audibly scoffed and replied, "You most certainly will _not_ be staying in the cheapest conference room The Luxor had _ever_ made to rent out."

"Why is it the cheapest?" Hope asked curiously.

"It doesn't have any windows," Kol's chiper voice answered behind them. "Ridley wanted to take a nap. She's nauseous from sun sickness and I suggested that she power sleep through it. I compelled her!"

Caroline blanched, "You did _what?"_ She launched herself at the younger Mikaelson brother without thinking, preparing to beat him as badly as she could even if she couldn't figure out a way to kill his very immortal ass.

Kol caught her wrists with an easy laugh reminding her quickly just how much stronger the Original family would always be. "Oh stop freaking out!" he chided. "She asked me to. I was given _very_ extensive instructions and I'll have you know that I carried them out to a T!"

Ridley always had operated under the misguided belief that vampire abilities were primarily a form of luxury to her. She tended to think of compulsion as her own personal form of a sleeping pill, or whatever else she might happen to need… a delusional escape from a hangover sometimes. In Chiang Mai, though, Ridley could trust the vampires of her community not to do her any harm. Caroline was well aware of how charming Kol Mikaelson could be but Caroline was going to need to have a talk with Ridley about his true potential danger.

"Kol, stop playing around and, just tell her what you compelled Ridley into, already!" Klaus growled, having to show a considerable amount of restraint not to yank the two of them off of one another, hating how close they were even if it was just because Caroline was angry and he knew full well that his brother had already set his sights on the latest Bennett witch.

Kol rolled his eyes before fessing up, "I just compelled her to sleep soundly and comfortably for the next three hours and have pleasant dreams about horses," he said. "She _very_ specifically requested horses."

Caroline felt a small tug of nostalgic emotion, knowing then that Kol was telling the truth so she stopped her attempted assault. When he felt her relax, he quickly let go of her wrists, casting a brief apologetic look towards Nik which didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

"She's never seen a horse," Caroline explained sadly. "She's never seen _a lot_ of things as was true for the last several generations of the Bennett line. But Ridley went through a big horse phase when she was a kid anyway. It started after I read _The Black Stallion_ to her."

"That's adorable!" Kol replied immediately, grinning at the story that he was already planning to tease Ridley with later.

Caroline's face glossed over in happiness at the memories for a moment, her maternal instincts still strong enough to want to pounce on any opportunity someone gave her to share stories about her child. "Yeah, she went through a lot of phases based on what we were reading," Caroline said with a grin. "After _A Little Princess_ there was the phase when she wanted us to move to India..."

"I had that phase!" Hope interject excitedly, "Except… we actually _did_ move to India for a little while when I asked."

"Hmm, and let me guess, your father appropriated the Taj Mahal for himself to live in?" Caroline asked sarcastically but, it was clear she was only joking with him, a fact that made Klaus's chest practically ache with happiness.

"Well, more like the largest suite at the Oberoi Udaivilas but, you know," Hope said, completely straight-faced with a shrug. Exactly three seconds later they both dissolved into laughter together.

"That's wonderful that your mother read that to you," Caroline said as they stopped laughing. "My mother read it to me too. Maybe that's just a book all mothers share with with their daughters."

"Actually," Hope replied, "My father read that to me."

Caroline looked over Hope's shoulder to glance at Klaus who was still watching her exchange with his family with passively happy eyes. "Really?" she asked and he nodded in confirmation.

"Oh yes, Hope I do believe I can take a large amount of credit for your love of literature, can't I?" he asked her.

She nodded with a happy smile, remembering how her father had read to her over the years of her childhood. Even when she'd been too old to be read to, he was always giving her books, asking her what she was reading or even rereading a book with her. Her love for reading had really blossomed when he introduced her to Shakespeare. They _still_ talked about books all the time. "That and art," she said. "I guess Uncle Elijah gave me film."

"I take sole credit for music!" Kol interrupted, vehemently.

"Debatable," Hope said with a laugh, "You went through that huge Cyber-Grunge phase in the 2080's. I was _not_ in support of that."

Caroline wrinkled her nose at the thought. She remembered the music from that particular time and it wasn't the best - strangely plodding and extremely homophonic music with only the vaguest of similarities to the grunge movement of the 1990's and the cyberpunk movement before that, which Cyber-Grunge _claimed_ to be inspired by. It also had an odd emphasis on chanting and occasional shrieking.

"Well, as much fun as it is reminiscing on times past," Klaus spoke up next. "You made it abundantly clear that you would _only_ be joining us here to work. What would you like to get started on for the next few hours before Ridley wakes?"

Hope rolled her eyes, knowing that her father was not so subtly already trying to force Caroline into admitting if she wanted to spend time with him and his family or not. She quickly came to her new friend's aid.

"Ezra and Vale said you could come out to meet everyone at The Waste as soon as you were ready," she said. "Do you want to go today?"

"Caroline isn't here to help your little friends at The Waste, Hope," Klaus snapped at his daughter, "I was thinking maybe you'd like to see the research labs we have set up here in the hotel?"

Caroline looked between the two of them, wondering what argument she was missing here before surprising both of them.

"First of all I'm here to help expand any and all research going on around here, no matter what neighborhood or building it's in. But today, actually, I'm not sure I really want to get started on much of anything before Ridley is well enough to join me," she explained. "She'll be mad if she's left out of too much. I was thinking… maybe today… I'd just go swimming?"

Klaus raised a perplexed eyebrow at her before an easy smile began to creep over his features. "After you made such a huge point of assuring all of us that you were only here to research?" he asked, "Are you sure, love?"

Caroline, though, was already peeling her t-shirt off over head, revealing a jet-black subtly shimmery bikini top underneath of it. Apparently she'd made her mind up on what to do with her day much earlier. Klaus's attention immediately zeroed in on her still toned body and the smooth skin of her torso. He managed to redirect his gaze by the time Caroline was looking at him again but it had been long enough to make Hope feel suitably skeeved out and uncomfortable. Seeing your father check out a hot girl wasn't really something she was sure she'd ever feel totally mature about.

"I'm perfectly entitled to change my mind Klaus," Caroline said as she began to descend the stairway into the shallow end of the pool. She knew what he was doing, trying to twist her previous vow to make her uncomfortable. But, right now, she honestly could not have cared less what was going through his mind about her sudden change of heart. She wasn't lying when she'd said Ridley would be pissed if Caroline left her out of anything.

"Alright, that you are," he agreed. "But my six months doesn't include vacation time. Your six months here starts when we begin working."

As he said it, Klaus promptly grew as uncomfortable as Hope had just been while watching him stare. All of a sudden he recognized the black racerback bikini that Caroline was wearing - she'd borrowed it from Hope.

Caroline was about to protest this supposed no-vacation rule (which she most definitely would _not_ be following) but Hope beat her to the punch.

" _Your_ six months, what does that even mean? Do you own _time_ now too, Klaus?" Hope was also stepping out of her shorts to reveal a bathing suit underneath her clothes as she began to follow Caroline into the water where the other blonde was laughing as loudly as Kol at Hope's pluck.

"Well, I _am_ the oldest creature in existence. If anyone could own time it would probably be me-" Klaus began before his daughter interrupted him again.

"Not even true! Uncle Elijah _and_ Aunt Freya are both older than you!" Hope pointed out immediately.

"Don't let Freya hear you say that," Kol muttered dryly. "Or Elijah for that matter."

"Don't worry, Klaus, you'll get your six months," Caroline assured him once she'd stopped laughing, pushing herself further into the depths of the pool so that the water was up to her shoulders, darkening the tips of her golden locks.

"Alright in the meantime, I think we need some margaritas!" Hope suggested before motioning to her father and uncle. "You two can take care of that, right? We can trust you with that most sacred of tasks?"

Klaus rolled his eyes with an exaggerated huff before stalking back towards the hotel, presumably to get margaritas. Kol laughed before looking back to the ladies in the pool.

"Any special requests?" he called back to them before turning to follow Klaus.

"Your frozen mango ones! Don't let him skimp on the tequila Kol!" Hope hollered in response and he threw her a quick thumbs up.

* * *

The two blondes floated quietly together in the water for a minute or so before Caroline spoke up with already amused eyes.

"Well, you certainly run a tight ship here, Hope!"

Hope threw her head back to laugh loudly at that before softly splashing Caroline with some water, "Okay, I'll be the first to admit that _everyone_ here cuts me a lot of slack but, I never thought for a second that I'd make it through that trip to Chiang Mai unpunished. It would seem that _your_ presence is suitably distracting enough to put my father in one of the best moods he's been in for decades."

Caroline averted her eyes at that, ducking under the water with her sunglasses still on to briefly escape into the silence of the water. When she popped back up to tread water for a bit, she decided to simply change the subject.

"So…" Caroline began in an awkward tone, turning to Hope who was still lounging on the steps in the shallow end of the pool, "When did you and Vale meet?"

Hope couldn't help the big grin that overtook her features. "Well, I first met him when he was a human, in a town in Ireland called Killarney," Hope explained. "It was about 2110 or so and there were rumors at the time of a wolf pack in the area who were immune to the disease. That turned out to be a wild goose chase, as Vale's family quickly informed us after we arrived. He was originally from a family of Hunters who'd redirected their attentions to fighting the rabid wolf population that had pretty much overtaken all of Ireland by that point."

"Vale was a Hunter?" Caroline asked curiously.

"Not the legit kind, not the kind that will drive you insane if you kill them. No, Vale's family was one of the smalltime human factions that popped up after word about supernaturals became public knowledge. And, let's just say that Vale never really had a _knack_ for it," Hope said. "Really, he's never had the stomach for violence. He's a total hippy. Anyway, at the time he was a human and only 20 and _man_ he wanted me bad."

Caroline giggled wondering what Vale's version of this story would be. "Oh? And how did you respond to his advances?"

Hope scoffed like she was _still_ mildly unimpressed with the human Vale after all these years. Caroline could tell it was all for show and that the girl was clearly crazy about her boyfriend. "I told him to look me up if he ever became immortal," she told Caroline with a laugh, "And then, you know, seven years later he _did._ The wolves had finally spread the disease to almost everyone in Ireland, including Vale's family. He only barely escaped himself… taking one of the last ships ever sent to the country for uninfected refugees to a Rescue Base on the East Coast here where, according to him, he promptly found the first vampire he could and bribed them to turn him in exchange for feeding off of his clean blood before he turned."

Caroline remembered well how desperate vampires had become for clean blood by the 22nd century. Vampires who previously never would have considered doing _anything_ to help humans escape the disease were easily persuaded to do anything for a limited stockpile of clean blood, particularly given the fact that most of the humans that had survived this far had long since figured out ways to protect themselves from compulsion. Once the human population had become all too aware of the supernatural world surrounding them throughout the apocalypse, it had only been a matter of time before they became savvy enough to protect themselves - hunters, witches, or not.

Of course, there were horror stories from the unlucky ones, though. Tales of entire towns that had been overtaken by vampires that kept humans and essentially farmed them and used them as cattle. Caroline had even seen (and taken down) a few over the years. That type of lawless rule never tended to be the strongest or longest lasting in the face of the threats of the apocalypse, though, and Caroline wasn't even sure that any of them had survived. Most vampires she knew had ultimately found it preferable and more secure over the years to simply work alongside humans as partners. Caroline was roused from the disturbing memories though when Hope continued her story.

"And then he hitched rides for the next couple of weeks until he made it to Vegas. Ezra took him in at The Waste. She and I were already friends so it was only a matter of time till we met again," she said with a smile. "I denied him again at first. He'd only been a vampire for a couple weeks after all… but I did like him."

"Wow, he was just a baby," Caroline said with a smile.

Hope grinned back at her with a knowing look, "Yeah, apparently my dad and I have that in common."

Caroline might have been over 200 years old now but everyone knew that when Klaus had fallen for her she was a baby vampire. It was part of what had flummoxed everyone about the infatuation.

"Hmm, I see you _also_ inherited his subtlety," Caroline replied without batting an eye. It was going to take more than that for Hope to get anything out of her.

Hope laughed but kept going with her story, "And when we met _that_ time, well, it's very sad for me to say but I rejected him again," Hope admitted.

Caroline dutifully gasped at the plot twist in Hope's love life making Hope laugh at her surprised expression.

"Don't get too worked up. Remember, you already know the ending to this story and it's a happy one," Hope reassured her. "When Vale showed up here I didn't think he knew what the hell he was doing. We'd met _one_ time and had a brief fling. That was no reason to be following me to the immortal ends of the Earth. Turned out I was right, anyway, because Vale _actually_ really wanted to return to Ireland and keep trying to save the country."

"You said the whole country had been infected by that point," Caroline prompted.

"It had. And because Vale was a baby vampire he didn't know any better but to think that his newfound powers could help him save anyone or anything. He was sure he'd go back and be able to turn survivors in his family. He was over there for more than 80 years."

"And did he save anyone?" Caroline asked.

Hope shook her head. "There were no survivors by the time he left. He doesn't like to talk about it but I think he spent the better part of those years putting the infected out of their misery more than anything else."

That was certainly a bleak way to start one's immortal life. From the very little bit Caroline knew about the painful start to Klaus's life, it made Caroline think that the two men had more in common than they realized and might actually even get along if they'd ever just try to talk to each other. Little did she know, Hope had thought the same thing herself many times over.

"He came back in 2205 and, this time it had nothing to do with me. He came back because there was hardly anywhere left to go," Hope said.

Caroline nodded. There were maybe a dozen strongholds and bases scattered throughout Europe and Russia but the Americas were known to be much safer and less infected areas now.

"We were friends for awhile… got together officially about a decade ago. We've been sneaking around ever since," Hope finished her story with a dreamy shrug. "I have _no clue_ when my dad figured it out."

"Good question," Caroline mused. She sincerely doubted Klaus would have gone _ten years_ without getting to know his only child's beau. Maybe Hope really did have a talent for sneaking around Klaus. This quickly reminded her that Hope's trip to Chiang Mai had likely been in part to lead herself back here from the very beginning. Caroline still wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.

"One I'm sure that _the combined efforts_ of two extremely intelligent young blonde supernaturals could easily uncover the answer to," Hope suggested unabashedly.

"Talking about us when we're not around again, I see?" a smug feminine voice commented from behind Caroline, approaching from the hotel's patio.

" _Shut up,"_ Hope replied with a grin, looking over Caroline's shoulder.

Caroline twirled around in the water to see Rebekah and Freya approaching them, both in bikinis and carrying towels with a number of hybrids trailing behind carrying various treys and a couple of apathetic looking humans walking behind them. Caroline disguised the frown that threatened to come out when she saw the humans. They didn't _appear_ to be compelled, and Caroline had gotten pretty good at recognizing compulsion with a mere glance over the years. Did they work for the Mikaelsons or were they… pets? Caroline couldn't think of a tactful way to ask and wasn't really sure it was her business anyway, even if she did disapprove.

"What'd you bring us? Dad and Kol have already gone on a booze run," Hope said.

"Snacks," Freya answered for her niece, "You can't have a pool party without snacks."

Caroline was watching this newest Mikaelson with interest. Freya was clearly very guarded and Caroline wondered if that was part of her general disposition or if it was because the rest of the family already knew her and Freya didn't. Then again, she was new to Hope too but Klaus's daughter couldn't have been any friendlier.

"Ness I didn't see you come out!" Hope exclaimed and the formerly apathetic looking human brightened at the site of her friend. "Come here, you have to meet Caroline!"

The human, maybe in her early 40s with long red hair, smiled and slid off her sandals before taking a seat at the ledge of the pool to sit next to Hope with her feet dangling in the water.

"As excited as I am to meet your new friend, excuse me if I'm a little more curious about how you're just lounging about the pool in one happy piece?" Ness began. "I was still here when Klaus figured out that you left. It was _not_ a tranquil reaction."

"From what I understand, the answer to that particular riddle _is_ our new guest," Freya said, looking over to Caroline with suspicion before taking a seat at one of the lounge chairs in the sun. One of the other humans, clearly not friends with Hope as this woman Ness was, dutifully followed Rebekah to the chair next to her sister and stuck out his wrist for Rebekah to drink from without prompting.

"Alright, I officially don't understand this family," Caroline said, throwing her hands into the air and allowing the water to splash up around her. "Like, I've always realized that you guys had some problematic boundary issues but, is it really necessary to keep pressing this point in front of… _her_."

Caroline pointed to Hope at that, unwilling to even specify "Klaus's daughter" as that would be a full-on admission that she knew there was something between her and Klaus.

"Okay, you know what?" Hope asked in response, "I agree. This is getting a little weird for me too. Maybe any further awkward my-father-still-dates discussions can be held when I'm _not_ in the vicinity?"

"Really?" Rebekah intoned, disbelieving. "You want to instate that rule, Hope? As far as I can remember, you've always been the _most_ curious about your father's history with Caroline, more than anyone."

Hope scoffed in response, "That's only because I'm out of the loop!" Hope insisted. "If all of this hadn't been kept such a secret from me over the years, I wouldn't be so interested!"

"Interested in what, darling?" a velvety smooth voice asked from behind all of them. They turned to find Klaus and Kol reapproaching the pool in more casual outfits. Both were wearing swim trunks beneath short sleeved shirts that prominently displayed their toned arms. Behind them were two hybrids carrying a tray of empty glasses with salted rims as well as two pitchers of different types of what appeared to be margarita mixes.

"Caroline, what would you like?" Klaus asked her.

"We'll both have whatever Kol made," Hope answered for her immediately.

"I made everything!" Kol exclaimed proudly.

"Should I be worried about that now?" Klaus asked warily, "Did you all have some sort of agreement?"

"What're you talking about? You were out here the whole time Kol was," Hope lied so smoothly and easily that Caroline might have believed it herself if she hadn't heard Hope ask her uncle to booze it up.

"I'll take whatever, I'm sure it's great," Caroline replied, trying to focus on Kol as he was bringing over two glasses, one for her and one for Hope. She'd forgotten how nicely they could host you when you were on their good side. _You'd also forgotten how good Klaus looks without a shirt,_ she couldn't help but briefly think, hoping that it didn't make her blush.

Caroline honestly could not even conceive of a way in which she could stop checking Klaus out. He obviously noticed too because he smirked at her before stripping off his shirt and gracefully diving into the deep end of the pool. A second later, he surfaced less than a meter from her face and smiled at her. She couldn't help her responding grin - he looked so over-joyed and youthful, it was difficult not to catch onto his enthusiasm contagiously.

When his head reappeared above the water and looked at Hope expectantly.

"I expect you to eat something before consuming one of your uncle's undoubtedly too-strong drinks," he said.

His daughter promptly picked up her friend (employee? Caroling still wasn't sure) Ness's wrist and latched on with her fangs. Ness shrugged noncommittally.

"What was Hope talking about?" Klaus asked, referring to no one specifically while Hope was busy eating, though his eyes were locked on Caroline's. "What was she saying she was interested in when we got back a moment ago?"

"After over two centuries haven't you learned your daughter better by now?" Freya asked, surprising them all by being the one to cover for Hope. "Your daughter is a conspiracy theorist and she's interested in everything."

Klaus was apparently content to let it drop at that. Hope could apparently get away with murder here. And, well, given the fact that she was a Mikaelson _and_ Klaus's daughter, she probably had several times over.

* * *

They spent the entire day out there, catching up and drinking and swimming… with Caroline taking plenty of time to just lounge and stare out at the sun which she still couldn't quite believe she was seeing. Every time it struck her to be uncomfortable about how easy it was to be around them - _all_ of them, not just Klaus, although their carefree repartee was something she'd need to keep an eye on too - Caroline would become temporarily a little guarded.

But Hope always seemed to notice these changes in her mood and would make an effort to bring her out of her shell again. Caroline had known, of course, though she forgot exactly when she'd learned, that Klaus had a daughter. She would be lying if she tried to pretend the news hadn't stung… more than once it had burned her when she revisited the knowledge privately over the years. It had particularly hurt that it had been with Hayley. Honestly, when Caroline had heard Klaus had married a human, though she felt both shocked and something else harder to pin down, she had mostly just been relieved that he hadn't ended up with Hayley. Or another immortal for that matter, though she had always wondered why he never turned his human wife at any point.

Would she get answers to any of these questions during her six months here? Caroline thought it would be better if she just put it out of her mind and got her work done. She'd wait for Ridley to recover and then they'd immerse themselves in research. They needed to get back to Chiang Mai, still, after all.

But the moment she began to become introverted with these thoughts again, Hope had another margarita pressed into her hands with a sly grin. The hybrids were bringing out some music equipment and a computer. They still used computers at the base in Chiang Mai too. There wasn't Internet anymore, of course, but the old machines could still run basic programs that made research easier. But as Hope excitedly began to plug the computer into a set of speakers and then pop some headphones over her ears, Caroline got the impression this particular computer wasn't used for research.

"Where's Elijah?" Caroline asked Klaus, looking over her shoulder as Hope began to set up… something. He was perched on the edge of the pool, drinking a beer while the rest of them sipped their fruity margaritas. Leave it to Klaus to feel too cool to drink a "girly" looking drink.

He'd been looking at her already when she turned around and didn't make any motion to disguise that fact when she caught him. But if he was going to hold her gaze unblinking, she could certainly but just as unaffected.

"Does Elijah really seem like a man who spends much of his time at the pool?" Klaus asked jokingly, "About the most fun Hope can cajole him into is chess or movie marathons."

Caroline smiled at the image.

"Besides, I believe he is looking in on Ridley before Sunset," he said. "Which looks to be soon."

It was true, it looked like it was approaching dusk in the now pink colored sky over the expansive desert in front of them.

"Thank you," Caroline said. "I'll thank him when I see him too. I feel like I should be in there with her. I know Kol's been in and out a million times today too and I've just been out here-"

"You were almost eaten alive yesterday, Caroline," a scolding voice came from behind them from the direction of the hotel, "You deserve a day off to recover every bit as much as I do."

Caroline grinned at the sound of Ridley's voice and she flashed out of the pool in an instant to where Ridley was walking over with Elijah and Kol hovering on either side of her. Caroline took in the scene with mild curiosity. She'd known Kol would be trouble from the moment they arrived but here was Elijah as well, leaning close into a Ridley and fussing over her. It was clear he wished she'd let him reach out his arm to accompany her out to the pool for support.

Ridley caught her eye and scowled at the two guys but was clearly joking and her eyes only held gratitude.

"Yeah, these two seem to think I'm _crippled_ now," Ridley said. "I'm really feeling _fine_. Thank you for looking out for me today but luckily I'll be out of your hair now."

"But sweetheart, I don't _want_ you out of my hair," Kol said in a salacious tone making Ridley slap his arm.

Caroline hissed out " _Kol_.." in a low warning tone at the same moment that Klaus growled out the same thing behind her. But though Kol was being more overt, watching Elijah's concerned eyes stay centered on Ridley, her worry shifted.

"Are you sure it's not too early for you to be out here?" Caroline worried even though Ridley had huge sunglasses on her face now and was also looking much better.

Ridley ignored the fussing and hurried over to Hope when she spied what the girl was setting up over Caroline's shoulder.

"Are you playing more music?!" she squealed happily.

"Oh yeah, if you thought what that idiot at last night's party was playing was good, just _wait_ ," Hope promised confidently.

"How did I know you'd have criticisms about whomever I chose?" Klaus wondered rhetorically to Hope.

"Really, thank you for all your help today," Caroline said turning back to Elijah and Kol. She was concerned about all the attention they were paying Ridley but Ridley seemed only too happy to be spending time with her new friend in favor of attractive men anyway… shockingly.

Glancing up, Caroline saw Hope and and Ridley looking over in the direction of their trio while giggling and whispering.

And then, in the distance, the sharp cry of a howling wolf pierced through the air.

* * *

 **So I've been introduced to so many new fics because of the Klaroline awards and one thing we all seem to agree on… Kol is just a great cook? Is that just generally accepted fanon now or was that every actually mentioned in real canon? Either way, I like it and I think we should all keep perpetuating this detail about Kol in our fics - hence his margarita prowess. (Sort of like Caroline and B+, right? If any of these things are actual canon, my bad.) Fanon FTW!**

 **This chapter was just an excuse for a big old ball of fluff. Granted, I do have a lot of backstory to move through someway or another but… I've been pretty good about dispersing it so far. There was a stall in the main plot moving forward because I wanted a chapter dedicated to the new Mikaelson dynamic in the future, now that Hope is an adult, Freya is with them, and things are back to normal from where the show is currently. Plus, Mikaelson family fluff is some of the best fluff, I think most of us would agree.**

 **Also I believe I forgot to mention, I'm on tumblr now under the same username. I post chapter previews, story image inspiration, and take drabble requests. In the coming days I'll be posting a couple drabble requests I've received for the Klaroline Hades x Persephone week and I often post epic Luxor photos or shots from scenes like the XS party.**

 **Reviews are life, can't wait to hear from you!**


	10. Cheerleader

_**A/N: So I like this generally accepted rule that we should all start fanfiction chapters with a quote as much as the next gal but, as far as including lyrics in the story? That's never appealed to me. Referencing songs is always fun cause I like to know what people are listening to but including quotes from entire song I always just feel like is a waste of space. That being said, I just discovered this St. Vincent song called**_ **Cheerleader** _ **which just so perfectly encapsulates my feelings about Caroline growing up and changing over the centuries before finally finding Klaus again… I had to include it. Sorry. You should listen to it, cause it's great and will give you a million Klaroline feels.**_

 _ **10**_

 _ **Cheerleader**_

* * *

All of them could tell the sound of the wolf they'd heard was very far out, many miles away from them across the desert, so no one was very concerned and their reunion at the pool continued.

They ended up spending most of the evening out by the pool together in a strangely intimate welcome-back sort-of ceremony. Partly this was because Ridley had slept the day away and was only now beginning to wake up and enjoy herself. Caroline wasn't thrilled at the thought of Ridley keeping an essentially nocturnal schedule but, given the weird hours they tended to keep underground all those years, she supposed it didn't really matter. If they were lucky, Ridley could even catch some further low-level sun exposure when the sun rose before she had to be sequestered inside again.

This thought process also led Caroline back to the fact that it was essentially first thing in the morning in Ridley's world, _not_ just after sunset. But, because she'd come straight out to join their gathering, Hope promptly had a margarita pressed into the girl's hands. _Margaritas for breakfast?_ the maternal side of Caroline couldn't help but fret. The friend side of Caroline wasn't about to bum Ridley out on her first big trip though, not when she and Hope were apparently making such fast friends. Ridley was following the girl around in fascination as she set up her music equipment. Klaus had turned on some, but not all, of the lights on the strip as the sky darkened including The Luxor's beam which kept their party extremely well lit even as night approached.

Hope's breadth of knowledge about music over the centuries was impressive. Caroline could only pick out specific things she was DJing at first and frequently had to ask questions - a strange but wonderful combination of a Norwegian band from their time that Hope informed her was called Royksopp overlayed with some famous classical movie theme from a 2050's horror flick plus a mashup of The Beatles' _I Will_ and some German electronica from the early part of the 22nd century before the Internet had dissolved.

Caroline had thought she'd caught Klaus looking at her meaningfully through The Beatles' track but, then, she realized that he'd been pretty much looking at her that way the entire day. Not to mention, she was sufficiently tipsy off of Kol's margaritas by now - as Hope had requested, he had _not_ been lenient with the alcohol - so her perception and intuition were both undoubtedly a bit off right now.

"Let's get back in the pool," Hope suggested to Ridley after she'd sufficiently set up a selection of music that could play to her satisfaction for awhile without her attention. "Were you able to borrow something?"

"Um, well Kol took me to your room to borrow something-" the blush that crossed Ridley's features at the memory was carefully cataloged by Caroline, "-But nothing really fit. You're um…" Ridley awkwardly gestured to her new friend's chest which was somewhat noticeably larger than her own, suggesting that nothing fit her.

Hope laughed before looking over to her aunts. "Freya? Can I take Ridley up to your room to grab something? I think you guys might be a closer size."

"Sure thing, just don't take any of the Bianchi's from the 2060's, you know which ones they are," Freya instructed, waving them off as she name-dropped a famous designer from the past that Ridley had never even heard of.

"Aye!" Hope replied, saluting her aunt with a single finger. "We'll be back!"

Klaus didn't waste the opportunity; the second both of their daughters were out of sight, he began swimming over to her.

Honestly, the moment he and Kol had returned with margaritas earlier, he'd stripped down to dive into the water with her as soon as possible. But Caroline had been _so_ terribly cautious so far. Every time she'd even so much caught a hint that he might be swimming toward her, she'd carefully paddled away from him, pretending to be nonchalant about it. She'd made sure to keep half the length of the pool between them.

It was almost funny but now he was getting fed up. He assumed she must be behaving so childishly about going near him simply because Ridley and Hope were present and it made her a bit uncomfortable. Sure enough, this time when he swam over to her where she was leaning against the wall of the pool with her arms draped over the outer ledge, she didn't move. He took a place next to her, also pulling his arms out of the water to lean out of the pool a bit as they both looked out into the city. Well, she was looking out into the city. Klaus was making a study of the way each droplet of water pooled on the skin of her arms over her perfect alabaster skin. Every detail about her was exactly as he remembered her but… overall there was a more subtle and general difference about her.

Klaus expected her return to her old habit of rambling to fill awkward silence but she had apparently evened out and learned some patience over the years because she calmly waited for him to begin as they floated next to each other. He had no doubt that she still had her adorable rambling moments - he'd overheard many with Ridley last night - but it seemed she saved those for people she trusted these days.

 _Why was she so hesitant of him after all this time? Hadn't he proven himself to her by keeping his word to never come after her after their day in the woods over two centuries ago? Did she consider his coming after Hope to be a breach of that covenant now?_

"Our daughters seem to be hitting it off well," Klaus commented amicably, instead of voicing any of the questions torturing him at the current moment.

Caroline beamed when she turned to look at him, floating a fraction of an inch closer to him in the water. Her sunglasses were resting atop her head now that the sun was setting and he could see the greenish blue hue of her eyes.

"They aren't the only ones," she replied. "Hope is a really wonderful girl. She's funny and easy to talk to and, unsurprisingly extremely smart. But who would have guessed that Klaus Mikaelson's daughter would have turned out to be so personable?"

Klaus grinned back at her. He'd noticed that they hit it off and it made him happier than he honestly thought anything could have. Caroline seemed to fit easily in with his entire family actually; she was only still reserved with him.

"Yes, well, she seems to adore you," he answered honestly, ignoring her joking insinuation that he _wasn't_ personable. He remembered her finding him _personable_ enough at least four or five times last time they'd been together.

Caroline genuinely liked Hope but, several questions burned at the forefront of her mind. _How does she already know about me? Why is she so fascinated? Is she always this overt?_ But Caroline stayed silent in lieu of voicing any of them. She wasn't going to go out of her way to have awkward conversations with Klaus.

"Ridley also seems quite fond of Kol and Elijah, although…" Caroline let the sentence dangle. She was willing to get into tough conversations for Ridley's benefit, just not her own. The real problem was that the two Mikaelson brothers seemed overly fond of Ridley, rather than vice versa.

Elijah had been flitting in and out of their gathering ever since he'd helped Ridley out. Klaus was correct that Elijah wasn't really a man to spend a day lounging out at the pool but, apparently, he _was_ the kind of man to hover over his niece's DJing equipment to help explain things to her curious new friends. Kol, for that matter, was also always hovering nearby, quick to make a quippy comment about _anything_ that Elijah had to say.

"You're concerned that they are inappropriately interested in her?" Klaus finished the thought. He'd noticed their behavior around the Bennett witch as well. They hadn't bothered being terribly subtle about it. He'd intended to talk with both of them later before Caroline had said anything anyway. He expected that type of behavior from Kol but Elijah?

It was very obvious that the two brothers were already starting to wear on each others' nerves. Ridley, however, didn't seem to be noticing either of them anymore, though she was still politely paying attention. There were plenty of young men back in Chiang Mai for Ridley to befriend and date, supernatural and humans her own age alike though the humans were fewer. The city had always suffered from a much higher male population than female though and Ridley's chances to get to know other girls were more limited - she's mostly stuck by Caroline and Ko over the years. Caroline suspected that she was far more interested in befriending Hope right now that bothering with the attentions of either of her uncles, and this was the one fact that consoled Caroline.

"I mean, Ridley is a grown woman and can make her own choices but…" Caroline let her thought dangle again.

"I'll mention something," Klaus assured her.

"Thank you," she said with a sincere nod. And she reached across the few inches of water separating them to lay her hand overtop of his.

She had made the demonstrative move almost unconsciously and, the moment their skin made contact she was already pulling back from him. She turned away from him for a moment and he thought she was going to swim off again but, she only put a few extra inches of space between them but kept floating next to him at the wall. Feeling uncomfortable, Caroline picked up her margarita from the edge of the pool and downed about half of it in one go.

It took every ounce of his willpower in that moment not to snatch her delicate hand back into his own, dying to kiss her palm and each of her knuckles and her wrist but, he wasn't planning to go out of his way to make her more skittish.

The track on Hope's playlist changed and both of them snapped their heads to the side to look towards the speakers in recognition. Hope took music very seriously and was constantly blasting it through the hotel so he was familiar with most of her favorite tracks. A song by St. Vincent from around the time of Hope's birth had popped up; Hope had always particularly fascinated by music made during the years her mother had been alive. Caroline was struck because she recognized the song as well, one of her favorites that she hadn't been able to listen to in years since they'd been in the caves.

 _I've had good times_

 _With some bad guys_

 _I've told whole lies_

 _With a half smile_

 _Held your bare bones_

 _With my clothes on_

"You've changed Caroline," Klaus said to her in a low tone, making her eyes snap back to his. His eyes were serious, unwilling to let her skirt around the edges of a meaningful conversation any longer.

 _But I don't want to be your cheerleader no more..._

"So have you," she answered easily, still avoiding acknowledging any point about herself in favor of flipping the conversation back onto him. "You as a father… as _Hope's_ father, of all people. She's so independent. I guess between you and Hayley-"

"You know she never meant _anything_ to me," Klaus interrupted harshly. He lowered his voice even further to avoid being overheard by his siblings who were all dutifully pretending to be caught up in talking to one another at the current moment.

Caroline narrowed her eyes, "As the mother of your daughter, I certainly hope that's not true."

"That's not what I meant," Klaus retracted - the word _shit_ briefly flitting through his mind; he could never say anything right around Caroline. Not even after all this time. "I meant she never meant anything to me romantically… it was a one night stand, nothing more."

 _I've played dumb_

 _When I knew better_

 _Tried so hard_

 _Just to be clever_

The blonde's eyes grew wide in an uncomfortable look and she set her glass down on the edge of the pool again so she could put her hands up in a defensive gesture.

"Please, Klaus, you don't owe me any explanations! We've both lived entire lifetimes with other people and it's none of my business what you did and none of your business what I did," she demurred. "Besides… whatever happened between us was a _long_ time ago. We don't need to dredge that back up for no reason."

 _I know honest thieves_

 _I call family..._

"No reason?" Klaus asked, almost angry. Now he did cross the short distance between them to take her hand into his own, not missing how her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat, "I _want_ to talk to you about these things Caroline. Isn't that reason enough?"

 _But I don't wanna be your cheerleader no more…_

"I don't understand why…" Caroline replied, not pushing him away. Klaus knew bullshit when he heard it - she knew _damn well why_ \- but if she wanted to be told in explicit terms, fine.

 _I don't know what I deserve_

 _But for you I could work..._

"Because your life and your history matter to me," he said and Caroline could see that his expression held such genuine tenderness and promise that it almost hurt to look at him again. "And because I want to share those things about myself with you…"

The song was coming to a close and, as the music began to wind down, Klaus could feel Caroline slipping her hand out of his own and backing away from him in the water.

"What's going on _here?"_ Ridley's amused voice woke Caroline from her trance and the blonde pushed herself up and out over the edge of the pool to get out in under a second, leaving Klaus alone in the water.

"Just be glad you were inside," Rebekah piped up from her seat where she was finally standing from and finally making her way towards the stairs of the pool. "We all had to sit here pretending nothing was going while the two of them are behaving just as sickeningly as they always have."

"Well, at least they haven't started squabbling in a childish effort to flirt yet," Kol considered, making Ridley laugh.

" _Shut up,"_ Klaus growled at all of them, particularly to Hope.

"Shit, did I just miss out on some meaningful eye contact over significant song lyrics?" Hope asked. She had caught sight of them gazing at each other as the song closed and began to fade into another just when Ridley had. "Ness did you put on something romantic while I was gone?"

Ness, who was recuperating from being fed on with a drink they contained some of Hope's blood on a chaise lounge, held up her hands in innocence, "It just came on. I guess they liked it."

 _"Hope..."_ Klaus growled out in a second warning to his daughter. It just made Hope roll her eyes at him.

"Whatever, you know you love my bitting observational witticisms," Hope said, making Ridley laugh again. "They are carefully crafted to contain up to a dozen layers of referential irony. You should feel honored so many are gifted specifically to _you_ , Klaus."

Promptly ending the uncomfortable discussion was Caroline, who had been studiously choosing to ignore the commentary from the peanut gallery up to this point. Ridley was now pulling off a pool dress to reveal the bikini she had borrowed from Freya.

"Ridley you look so _cute!"_ Caroline shrieked at her friend, coming to inspect the beautiful swim suit.

Freya looked up from the book she was reading on one the last models of tablets that had ever been produced to see what they were talking about. A frown immediately graced her features.

"Hope! I said anything _but_ the Bianchi's!" Freya chastised.

Suddenly Ridley's elaborate suit made more sense. Bianchi was one of the most famous Italian fashion designers in history; he'd risen to prominence in the last half of the 21st century. Ridley was wearing an exquisite white bandeau bikini that looked almost like it was made out of tulle but swept around her curves much more delicately and was encrusted with what _very much_ appeared to be dozens of tiny real diamonds.

"Ridley has never worn a bikini before Freya!" Hope insisted. "Look at her! Are you telling me I was supposed to resist playing dress up?"

"You most certainly were _not_ ," Kol answered salaciously for Freya, letting his eyes casually rake over the witch's form.

Just as Klaus and Caroline both were about to chastise him, a deeper voice spoke up first from the back. " _Kol,"_ Elijah barked out in a low warning. He'd followed the girls outside from the hotel.

Kol narrowed his eyes at Elijah but the elder vampire simply threw his younger brother a meaningful look suggesting that they'd be speaking to one another later.

"I just wanted to let everyone know that I've ordered dinner to be prepared and it will be served in about an hour," Elijah announced. "It would be preferable if all of you could join the meal in _real_ clothing."

"Of course Elijah, thank you very much," Caroline answered him and he nodded at her before returning inside.

"Well excuse us that not _everyone_ can manage the LV heat in a full suit all day every day," Hope snapped once he was out of sight.

"Some of us should be required to wear only certain types of suits all day every day," Kol commented, throwing a pointed look at Ridley again before grinning at his joke.

This time it was both Klaus and Caroline who snapped, with a simultaneous " _Kol!"_

* * *

Exactly an hour later, they were all seated in a private room of one of the hotel's now abandoned steakhouses that the Mikaelsons' staff were apparently still cooking out of. A mix of humans and hybrids working for the family had arrived at the table to serve them immediately when they sat down together. Placed on the table were bottles of wine, carafes of blood, and actual _steak_.

In Chiang Mai they were actually able to raise and breed a small family of cattle. But for survival reasons, they were primarily used for diary. Steak was only consumed when a cow or bull was old enough to stop breeding or milking. Ridley claimed a good filet was her favorite food, something she'd only had _maybe_ a half dozen times in her life.

As if reading her mind, Kol, who had taken a seat to Ridley's right, reached across the table to spear a filet from a serving tray and deposit it onto her plate before taking a large swig of blood from his glass.

"Go ahead, darling, you're amongst friends who appreciate a girl who has a fondness for good meat," he said to her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Especially me"

Caroline threw Klaus, who was sitting next to her, both of them across from Ridley and Kol, an exhausted look. As a low growl began to rumble in Klaus's throat as he prepared to stand and yank Kol away from the table, Ridley finally took it upon herself to say something.

"Kol, don't take this the wrong way cause I think you're a nice guy but, you gotta tone down the flirting man. I've been sick all day, I'm finally well enough to eat, I've just left the only home I've ever known in my entire life to see the sun for the first time…" Ridley paused in her explanation before turning to Kol with earnest eyes. "I have a lot to get acclimated to. Just… I get it if this is your _style,_ or whatever but, can you just operate under a _less is more_ philosophy for a little while? Please?"

Kol looked genuinely a bit taken aback as he considered what Ridley had said to him. Caroline watched the interaction curiously, proud of Ridley's maturity and grace in the situation. And, luckily, she was pleased to see Kol looked a bit impressed as well, and not put-out in the least.

"Well, how can I say no to that extremely reasonable request?" he asked her, almost tenderly. But in a split second, his tone was joking again, "Besides, it's not like you've told me _shove off_ for good so…"

Ridley laughed at his response before returning to her steak which she greedily cut into before placing a piece in her mouth and letting out a long appreciative groan. Caroline could tell that it was taking every ounce of Kol's control to stop himself from keeping up a running commentary. Glancing to the head of the table - where she was almost positive Klaus would normally be sitting if he hadn't chosen a seat next to her - Elijah was watching the whole scene unfold with interested eyes as well. His intense gaze barely ever left Ridley's. It was as unwavering as Klaus's was on herself.

Caroline had been more than tempted by their seemingly never-ending supply of extremely fresh blood but, even she was tempted by the prospect of steak. Using her senses to select a particularly rare one for herself, Caroline cut in and took a bite, having a difficult time not repeating Ridley's exact noise of gratification.

Next to her, she could see Klaus watching her with amused eyes. He could see her savoring the way her fangs sunk into the barely cooked meat. He allowed the momentary image of her sinking her fangs into his own flesh that way flash through his mind before redirecting his thoughts.

Meanwhile, as Caroline was enjoying their hospitality, another dozen questions were flitting through her thoughts as usual. _Why did he always have to play these games trying to impress her? They hadn't working back in Mystic Falls, did he think they'd work 200 years later? Okay, so they had kind of worked back in Mystic Falls. Were they kind of working now?_

"I can't believe you all are able to live this way after everything that's happened…" Caroline said. "Wasn't it just a century ago that Mount Rainier erupted and set off that string of earthquakes and tsunamis down the west coast?"

"And then St. Helen's went off right after that," Freya nodded, confirming what Caroline was remembering. "Yes, we were living in Vegas back then already but we temporarily relocated to Chicago for a few years to wait out the worst of the natural disasters. We weren't sure how much of the Midwest would make it. All of the Northwest was completely destroyed."

"Chicago, no kidding?" Caroline asked. "I was in Saint Louis around then! I had just started my first job working on research for the cure."

Klaus noticeably bristled at that news. Caroline turned to him, noticing the change in his posture immediately.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"You were in Saint Louis during the volcanic eruptions in 2120?" he asked her, almost grimacing when she nodded in confused confirmation.

They had been less than 300 miles apart from each other an entire _century_ earlier and he missed her.

"Klaus, _what?"_ she asked him again.

Hope smirked at the uncomfortable affair breaking out in front of her. She could see well what was going through Klaus's mind. Two hundred years wasn't something he let go of lightly.

"I think he's just having a _missed connections_ sort-of moment," Hope explained. She smiled even wider when Caroline blushed.

"Well, all that matters is that you're here now, Miss Forbes," Elijah said pleasantly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"For six months, anyway," Rebekah reminded them, giving a pointed look to Klaus. She wasn't trying to be malicious. She was just trying to give her brother a reality check.

Klaus ignored it. Instead, he flashed Caroline a very determined ' _Yes, we'll see about that'_ look before taking a long draught from his glass of blood. A nervous feeling settled into the pit of Caroline's stomach and, once again, she began to question her decision to come. _As if he was ever going to let you off that plane once he had you on it_ , a small part of her couldn't help but think, making her even more concerned.

Caroline reached out for her blood, hoping that consuming some fresh from the source might help her feel a little stronger and a little less like her knees were about to give out… while she was _sitting,_ no less.

* * *

 **First of all, thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Klaroline Awards 2015! I am so so happy and proud to announce that I was the winner for Best Caroline Author. I really can't express my gratitude properly over an author's note but I am extremely honored and participating in the awards and joining the Tumblr community has made my writing experience even more positive. Follow me on Tumblr at AmericanWordsmith where I post smut, drabbles, previews, story photo inspiration, and take requests!**

 **On another note, no big surprise that the Damon reveal in this fic is still pretty polarizing. All I can ask is that you just stick with it; things in this story are all being revealed at a slow pace so trust me when I say that Caroline hasn't even explained** _ **half**_ **her story with Damon. I'm not planning to brush the rape issue under the rug. I believe the rape issue deserves a more nuanced and long-form discussion than we typically allow for in these fics. The standard seems to be that we mention the Damon thing in one or so scenes, Klaus totally Hulks out about it, Caroline convinces him that she's moved on and violence is bad… I'm beginning to find this treatment of her rape story as equally off-putting as the fans who sweep it under the rug entirely. I think it glosses over the issue and takes more power away from her, even if she ultimately "gets her way" with Klaus about Damon. I plan to revisit this issue in stories of her marriage with Damon several more times over this fic because Caroline's assault is integral to who she is as a strong female character. How will the story flesh out into a working (though ultimately divorced) marriage? You'll have to stick with me to see but I hope you think I do it justice and I very much appreciate hearing your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions along the way!**


	11. Time Heals All Wounds

" _Some kind of innocence is measured out in years. You don't know what it's like to listen to your fears," —_ Hey Bulldog, _The Beatles_

 _ **11**_

 _ **Time Heals All Wounds**_

Caroline thought Ridley might be up the entire night after sleeping all day but, apparently the enormity of their trip and her sun sickness from earlier in the day were still wearing her down. After all this time helping to raise Bonnie's descendants and watching them die each generation, she still couldn't quite get over how truly fragile the human body was.

They excused themselves to retire immediately after dinner had finished, when it was still early evening. At first, they'd headed in the direction of the conference room without windows where Ridley had spent the day but Klaus was quick to follow them, insisting he'd had something much more suitable set up. Ridley and Caroline exchanged confused glances when he started leading them back to the same suite they'd been in the night before but were game to follow him.

When Klaus swung the door to their suite open this time, Caroline had to stop herself from gasping in awe at what awaited them. Beautiful and heavy crushed velvet curtains were meticulously draped over every inch of window surface on their angled walls. Each piece of velvet fabric was a different color but they all matched in rich jeweled tones from royal purple and deep blues to ruby and shimmering emerald fabric. It had been hung in a way that tented out over each of the windows, creating a luxurious 'harem' vibe to the whole place.

Turning towards the bedroom, Caroline saw that the massive California King bed had been moved completely out and replaced by a mountain of stylishly organized silk pillows and blankets all thrown overtop some very thin sleeping mats on the floor. The color scheme was the same as the drapes that had been brought in, with accents of metallic gold fabric brightening up the room. It was filled to the brim with pillows and gauzy fabrics, just enough so that it looked sumptuous instead of overcrowded.

Low sitting Japanese tea tables had been placed around the room to match their new sleeping arrangement on the floor, ornate pieces of heavy ebony furniture intricately carved and inlaid with opal accents. To complete the look, the hotel's typical standard lamps had been replaced by dozens of glittering glass lanterns that had been hooked up to dangle from their ceiling. Their suite had been the picture of luxury when they found it the previous evening but, now, it was enchanting.

"Oh my god, Klaus!" Ridley exclaimed first, punching Klaus on the shoulder in a surprisingly affectionate move. Caroline had to bite back a laugh at the look Klaus gave the witch in response. First he was shocked - people didn't exactly go around punching Klaus Mikaelson after all - but then he began to look infinitely pleased with himself. Caroline knew he wanted to impress her but the fact that making Ridley happy seemed to please him as well honestly touched Caroline.

 _But of course he'd know the way to get to you would be through Ridley,_ she couldn't help but acknowledge. _He has a daughter too. He would know._

Ridley leaned up to inspect a beautiful sapphire lantern in the shape of a star hanging from the ceiling, "I mean, I feel like I'm goddam Sara Crewe from _A Little Princess!"_

A wicked grin overtook Klaus's features and his eyes briefly darted away from Ridley's to catch Caroline's.

"Yes, well, we were discussing your fondness for that particular novel earlier today," Klaus admitted. "Hope loved it as well. Much of what you'll find in the room actually came from our time living in India for a few years."

 _Boy was he good._

"Seriously?" Ridley squeaked in excitement. She then _really_ shocked them all by bounding over to Klaus and locking him in a tight hug. "Thank you, Klaus. This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me." He automatically tensed up in response to her hug and gratitude before lifting up an arm to awkwardly pat her on the back.

The truth was that Ridley and Klaus had both been studiously avoiding speaking to each other since he'd all but abducted her from her room back in Chiang Mai. Klaus had never known how to handle _other people's_ children. If Hope had insisted on playdates or sleepovers growing up, he'd made sure to be around only as much as was necessary… children were primarily disgusting, just not Hope.

Now that Hope was eternally stuck in between her late teenage years and young adulthood, he was simply glad that Hope usually left the house to meet up with her friends. It worried him to no end… but at least it didn't mean pretending to be nice to a bunch of Hope's friends merely for Hope's sake. Ridley was going to be different though because not only was she Hope's friend, she was Caroline's daughter. And up until now, he'd seen Ridley only look at him with the same blatant fear and trepidation that _all_ of Hope's friends had over the years. That would never sit well with Caroline, so this new display of affection could only work in his favor.

Sure enough, looking over Ridley's shoulder, Caroline was watching them with warm eyes.

"You're welcome, little witch," Klaus replied fondly before releasing her embrace.

When he looked back to Caroline, she was inspecting the windows. She pulled back the heavy curtains to see what was underneath them. The glass of the windows had been all taped up.

"It's UV blocking," Klaus explained of the tape over the glass. "But it was absolutely heinous to look at which is why the velvet was brought up. Although the drapes alone were probably heavy enough to keep the sun out."

"Thank you, Klaus," Caroline told him, sincerely, spinning to face him. "You didn't have to do so much. You didn't have to do _any_ of this-"

"-I wanted to," he cut her off. _You know I did_ , he wanted to add but didn't. "And I assure you it really wasn't any trouble at all."

"Thank you all the same," she said and crossed over the room to meet him. "It means a lot to us. To me." And on that note she stood up on her toes to place a lingering kiss to his cheek.

In the second she did so, time seemed to slow as Klaus's mind raced to understand what she was thinking. She was obviously kissing him here because Ridley was still in the room. Surely she had to know that, had they been alone, he'd not be _at all_ content to leave things with just a kiss on the cheek? She knew, right? And here, in front of Ridley, he'd be forced to stay a gentleman and not take things further… not back her tenderly into the wall, not move his lips to capture her own, not grasp onto her hips and lock her to him in an iron grip.

He wanted to do all of those things. As Caroline pulled away, he caught Ridley's eye over her shoulder. The witch was shooting him a bemused look that suggested she was _well aware_ of the thoughts crossing through his mind. For all he knew, she _did_ know exactly what he was thinking. He knew witches could catch flashes of emotions or thoughts and sometimes even psychic predictions just from touching you. Who knew what she'd seen when they hugged? Freya and Hope had both mentioned multiple times that they sensed Ridley was very powerful but simply hadn't honed her craft yet.

Not wanting to completely miss a chance to prolong a display of affection, though, Klaus settled for something he'd wanted to do earlier that day in the pool. As she backed away from him he caught her hand a brought her palm to his lips, holding her eyes and relishing in the way her lips parted in surprise at the contact.

"It was my pleasure," he assured her. "Sleep well, love."

And then he was out of the room, leaving Caroline standing glued to the spot while feeling like her knees might give out at any moment. _Why did he have to go and do things like that?_

"Damn girl," Ridley called out from behind her, breaking her trance. "You're in trouble. He is freaking _smooth._ "

" _Shut up,_ it's nothing," Caroline hissed before adding, "Shut up!" one more time for good measure.

"Whatever, Caroline," Ridley said with an eye roll before flopping back into the mountain of pillows Klaus had left with them. "Look at all this! He won _me_ over!"

"You don't know him Ridley, you don't know any of them…" Caroline warned. "These aren't the vampires you grew up with in Chiang Mai. Don't trust any of them for a second."

* * *

That night, like the night before, though she hadn't mentioned it to anyone after Ridley had gotten so sick, Caroline dreamed of The Black Lake. She was out on the lake, alone, the light from her helmet the online thing guiding her when she heard " _Caroline!"_ It sounded like Klaus calling to her from the shore but she couldn't see him from that far out. And when she turned to seek him out, instead she was greeted by the unbelievably large head of the serpent from the lake, it's crooked fangs peeking out from its great silver head, each as long as her torso. It was looking at her like it understood her and she asked " _What are you? How are you here?"_ before the great beast opened its jaws and disappeared under the water, prepared to swallow her whole from beneath.

Caroline had overslept that next morning, of course. Her schedule was haywire. Normally the completely dark room she awoke to would have felt at least a little more like home but the hotel didn't have any of the sounds the caves did to alert her to morning. She couldn't hear anyone bustling about climbing up and down the ladders outside their apartment in the cave walls on their way to work. She couldn't hear the echoing voices of people starting their days in the alleys of her city and getting breakfast. There were no tell tale flutterings of wings as the few bat colonies that had managed to survive this long on the underground bug population came home to sleep for the day.

No, while the hotel room was dark thanks to Klaus's window fix, it was eerily quiet. When Caroline jumped awake amidst her nest of pillows, momentarily unsure of where she was, it was because of two things. One: the quiet, which she quickly remembered was because there were only several dozen people staying within a hotel meant for hundreds. Two: it smelled very distinctly of… sandalwood?

"Ridley?" Caroline called out into the darkness, trying to force her eyes to adjust. Ridley didn't answer so Caroline stumbled blindly for a bit until she found a light switch. She turned it on to find she was the only one left in bed. The time on the clock read 6:14 am which meant it was just before sunrise.

Caroline pushed her way out of the bedroom into the main living area of their suite which already had a few lanterns lit for the early morning, though this room was also empty. Ridley was nowhere to be found but, there was hot coffee waiting for her on a table in front of their couch, right next to an incense holder burning some sandalwood scented incense that Ridley must have wanted to try. Pouring herself a cup of coffee, Caroline noted the boxes of different flavors of incense Klaus had left on table. Then, in the corner of the room, she spied a hookah.

She snorted out a laugh to herself before sipping her coffee… really good quality coffee, she hadn't had this in awhile. Ridley would most certainly _not_ be partaking in the hookah. Caroline still had a sore spot over cancer after what her mother had gone through. But, it still undeniably touched her to know that Klaus was truly trying to provide for Ridley one of the ultimate dreams of her childhood - living in India like Sara Crewe. Caroline had been to India several times over the years and, from what she remembered, it wasn't quite this luxurious but… well, that kind of would have ruined Ridley's fantasy if she didn't get the glamorous side.

Speaking of which, she needed to get dressed and find Ridley. She was sure she was fine and that someone would help her if the impending sunrise made her sick. Caroline was more worried about _who_ , exactly, would be helping her. So, she got dressed as quickly as possible. There were clothes in sizes for both herself and Ridley. Caroline knew that from borrowing swimsuits the other day that she wore nearly the same size as Hope and Ridley was a good match for Freya. She wondered if the extensive wardrobes they'd been supplied with in lieu of having a chance to pack were all borrowed from Hope and Freya's personal things.

She threw on jeans and a t-shirt with the same large sunglasses from yesterday, not knowing what their plans were yet and what they'd need to be wearing. Then, leaving the room at vamp speed, the same way she'd gotten dressed, Caroline went in search of Ridley. It wasn't that she was even too worried about her, no matter who she was with. Ridley had proven she could handle herself well enough around Kol last night. Honestly, she was simply anxious to find Ridley because being alone in this massive, brightly lit hotel kind of freaked her out a little bit.

A hybrid stopped her to direct her while she was looking and Caroline ended up headed for a veranda not too far from where they'd been swimming the other day. The sun was just about to rise. They sky was still a light shade of blue but you could see the cusp of the sun peaking out over the desert horizon in the distance. Out at a beautifully set table with fruits, coffees, teas, eggs, and pastries and, of course, more blood sat Ridley, Elijah, Kol, and Klaus. It was, perhaps, the strangest sight she'd ever seen - Ridley watching the sun rise with the three Mikaelson brothers. She was doing exactly what Caroline had said she shouldn't do: Ridley was trusting them.

Klaus noticed her first, shooting her a reassuring smile before rising to greet her. The look he sent her made it apparent that he'd basically been present at this breakfast to chaperon his two brothers and monitor their behavior around the still-recovering witch, something Caroline couldn't help but appreciate.

"Good morning, love," Klaus said, walking over to kiss her warmly on the cheek. Caroline had to force herself not to press her fingertips to the spot where his lips had softly connected with her skin a second before. _How did he make her feel like this every time?_ She was going to need to have a talk with him about what was going to be appropriate in their working relationship going forward. But, that could wait until later, a less awkward time when other people _weren't_ around.

"Oh, hey Care, I didn't want to wake you," Ridley called out, turning around to face her.

Klaus was pulling out a chair for her now, next to where he'd been sitting. Kol and Elijah were flanked on either side of Ridley.

"It's no problem," she reassured her friend as Klaus pushed in her chair behind her and she picked up a croissant for herself. "Are you sure you're okay to be out here for sunrise, though?"

"I did fine last night during sunset," Ridley replied with a shrug. She was already wearing sunglasses.

"She's surrounded by vampires able to rush her back inside the minute she needs us to," Kol added, in a rare serious tone. He was looking at Ridley very fondly, as if he hadn't entirely noticed that Caroline had even arrived though he was speaking to her. _Enough,_ Caroline wanted to tell him, _You've known the girl less than 48 hours. She's_ not _Bonnie. You goddamn Mikaelson men and your random obsessions._

"Ridley was just discussing her family history with us," Elijah informed her as Klaus poured her a glass of blood that she did not request but begrudgingly accepted anyway. "But there's a lot she can't remember because most of what she knows is a second hand story from yourself."

"Looking for me to fill in some gaps?" Caroline asked after taking a sip of the blood which was, _of course_ , B positive. "I'm sure you're well aware by this point that I all but raised each and every one of Bonnie's descendants. Except for when Bonnie was still alive herself, of course. Anyway, I've got the details on the Bennett story even better than Ridley, I'm pretty sure."

"100% sure, I've never been super interested in ancestry," Ridley replied.

"That's because you're only just now coming into your own as a witch," Elijah told her softly. "It will begin to matter more and more to each day."

"Maybe…" Ridley gave a half-hearted shrug. "Sometimes I feel like I'm not even all that into my own magic."

Elijah and Kol both threw her a harsh glare at that statement, as if she'd done something wrong in her parenting to cause Ridley's disinterest. Caroline put her hands up defensively.

"Hey, don't blame me. She's the first of the Bennett witches not to latch onto it," Caroline said. "I don't know why she doesn't like using magic."

"You seemed all too keen to use it on Rebekah when we first arrived in Chiang Mai?" Klaus prompted Ridley with a raised eyebrow.

"That was because she was threatening Caroline," Ridley snarled, still apparently bitter over the event.

"Well, Hope and Freya will just have to take you into their tutelage while you're here," Elijah said decisively.

"Joy of joys," Ridley replied sarcastically, taking a sip of what Caroline very sincerely hoped was just orange juice after she also spied champagne on the table.

"So, what were you talking about then?" Caroline asked brightly, to interrupt the turn in the conversation that had clearly annoyed Ridley. Ridley had always strangely thought of magic as almost a chore. Caroline had to all but force her to practice it enough to keep it under control when it started becoming noticeable about two years earlier. "Did Ridley tell you about the Bennett Triplets? They disappeared during the First Territory Wars after their parents died. We found their parents' bodies but the three boys were never found again. It's quite the mystery."

It had been 150 years since she and Bonnie had watched Bonnie's only son and his wife die… and their three triplet boys, only 18, disappear a few days later. She was able to mask the pain she still felt over the event now but she would be lying if she tried to pretend she still didn't grieve over their losses. The First Territory Wars had taken place in 2070, after the rains had started wiping out the shorelines but nearly two decades before the apocalyptic flooding had started. Bonnie was _old_ at the time, though she'd managed a spell to make sure she didn't quite look her true age of 78. And then… things had really gone to hell.

"Yes, we heard about the miraculous Bennett Warlock Triplets," Elijah said, pulling her out of her thoughts. Klaus was looking at her as if he knew exactly what kind of dark turn her mind had taken though she was doing her best to appear happy. Elijah continued, "Bonnie's only grandchildren, am I correct? They died quite young but there were whispers that the triplets were already in the process of forming the most powerful coven of brothers that had ever existed. We'll never know, sadly."

"Well, no one can say for sure they're gone, right? They just disappeared, their bodies were never recovered," Kol argued.

"It seems unlikely," Ridley answered. "They were every bit as mortal as me and my mother before me."

Elijah seemed to sense Caroline's growing discomfort at the memories and switched to another one of the many interesting Bennett rumors he'd been privy to over the years but not shared until now, "Though rumor has it that Bonnie's birth to the triplets' father was even more miraculous than the triplets themselves."

Kol quirked an eyebrow, clearly never having been let in on this piece of Bonnie's history.

"Elijah?" he questioned his brother.

Elijah simply inclined his head toward Caroline asking her to verify the rumors.

Caroline did, after exchanging a quiet look to Ridley to ask for permission. Ridley, who shrugged in ambivalence, could have cared less. Bonnie was just some long ago ancestor that she certainly felt no connection to, really, other than through Care's stories.

"Bonnie claimed to have conceived her only son through immaculate conception," Caroline admitted.

Kol's eyes widened in surprise as did Klaus's but then Kol broke their silence by letting out a hoot of a laugh. Elijah waited, quietly regarding the story.

"Now I've heard a lot of strange things over the years," Klaus said, "But nothing like that, I'm afraid." Honestly he was surprised he'd never heard these claims Bonnie had apparently made; that was the kind of rumor that circulated like wildfire. They must have kept this story strictly private.

"I can think of some comparably surprising births," Caroline returned with a pointed look in his direction, obviously referring to Hope, making him chuckle. Well, she did have a point then. "A father never turned up either. And believe me, we looked."

"We?" Kol asked, more to amuse himself with Klaus's discomfort than out if real curiosity. Any fool would know who helped her search.

"The Salvatore brothers," she said, snapping at Kol just a little bit. "Obviously. I mean, we never found evidence to support her claims but… we never found anything to conclusively deny them either." Caroline held up her arms in a shrugging motion.

"Very interesting…" Kol said, letting the response hang dramatically before pressing on. "And then her son had three sons. But, if the triplets disappeared when they were young, how did we get fair Ridley here?"

"Well they were all 18 when they went missing in the war. One of them, Soren I think his name was?" Ridley answered, ignoring Kol's compliment. "Soren had a daughter about two years before the war."

"Bonnie's great-granddaughter Eve," Caroline confirmed. "Soren had her from a one night stand. Her mother dropped her off a year after she was born, in the dead of night, not knowing how to raise her when her magic began firing off at a young age. She was terrified of her own daughter."

Klaus was surprised to find himself feeling sympathetic for the long-ago witch named Eve. He supposed that, somewhere in the arc of this family story, he'd started attributing the features of Hope as a baby to the Bennett line - people who were _all_ essentially Caroline's children in a way, he was discovering. Hope had started showing signs of her magic _before_ she had been born and her parents had been well-enough versed in supernatural happenings to be proud of and appreciate Hope's burgeoning power. It _did_ hurt him, in a very unexpected way, to think of one of Caroline's children going through a similar transition but being only surrounded by fear as she did.

"Two years after Eve was born was when the triplets disappeared and their parents died," Caroline continued, "Leaving her only with her great-grandmother. But two years after _that,_ Bonnie died. Eve was left to myself and Damon to raise. I've been raising a straight line of Bennett daughters ever since."

Klaus bristled at that and Caroline _almost_ went out of her way to explain. _(Bonnie and Damon had their own special relationship, thanks to their time stuck with Kai, separate from his marriage to Caroline. Damon also hadn't been cut out for fatherhood and had really served the role of a cool uncle more than a father. That fact had been one of the many differences that led them to divorce.)_ But, right now, this early in the morning, she wasn't going to go out of her way to explain. Klaus could look put-out all he wanted.

She did, however, end up pouring herself a Mimosa to take the edge off the situation.

Ridley could see things had gotten uncomfortable so she decided to switch topics, "So Hope suggested last night that maybe we go check out The Waste later? I think maybe she just wants to see Vale but it would be nice to see what they have going on out there, right?"

"Later when?" Caroline asked, looking at the sunrise which was already far enough into the sky to have turned it pink and purple. It was stunning and she could tell Ridley was a bit hypnotized by it beneath her sunglasses. Caroline was too, she had to admit. "I already feel like you should be heading back inside for a bit…"

"Stop fussing," Ridley shushed her, smiling when she heard Kol chuckle. "I'll go in when I need to. And Hope was suggesting early this evening, that we leave just before sunset. I'll be fine!"

"Alright," Caroline acquiesced. "But you'll be out of the sun all day."

Next to her she could see Klaus was still tense. She didn't know if it was still about her ex-husband or if it was about their impending trip to The Waste. She had to assume it was likely both.

* * *

Ridley pushed herself probably a bit more than she needed to, staying out through sunrise until a bit after 8:30. At that point, she was starting to feel sick from the sun again and headed up to their room by herself to take a nap and lounge out the day away from the sun. Caroline promised to come check on her later and that promise was quickly echoed by promises of visits from Elijah and Kol, both of which made her roll her eyes.

Just minutes after Ridley departed, Hope arrived at the table, wearing a smug expression.

"Good morning! Just had a _badass_ high five with Ridley in the lobby," Hope greeted as she sunk into Ridley's vacated seat between her uncles and poured herself a Mimosa straight away. "Neither one of us said a word, barely made eye contact. We just put our hands up, had a solid high five and, kept walking. It was super cool, I'm sorry all of you missed it."

Kol snickered, Elijah rolled his eyes, and Klaus sighed before snatching the Mimosa from Hope's hands.

"Good morning to you too, daughter. I don't see any reason you need to be drinking quite this early though," he replied in a huff.

"Hair of the dog, father," she said, trying to snatch the glass back, unsuccessfully, before shrugging and pouring herself another, "I'm hungover as all hell, Klaus. Let me have one drink in peace."

Caroline had to hold back a laugh but she was pretty sure her amused smile didn't go unnoticed by anyone. Apparently Klaus had some of the same trouble with looking nearly the same age as his child as she did - namely, said equally-aged children stopped thinking of themselves as your prodigy and started thinking of themselves as friends.

"Nik, while everyone may _think_ that you're greatest power is your ability to strike fear into the hearts of every creature that ever has or _will_ live by being the one and only Original Hybrid," Kol added in a mocking tone, "Hope and I will always know… what is _truly_ terrifying about you is what a bummer you can frequently be."

On that note, Kol picked up his own Mimosa and clinked his glass to his niece's in a cheers.

"To Klaus, for being the world's biggest drag!" Hope said and they both took sips of their drinks and Klaus growled in annoyance. Then Hope slammed her glass back onto the table, "And for his next trick, ladies and gentleman," Hope announced in her best hosting voice, "Klaus will attempt to assume dictatorial power over all of Earth!" She thrust a finger into the air for dramatic emphasis.

"Will I ever make it through _one day_ again in my life without you or Kol _heckling_ me at every turn?" Klaus snarled, sounding more put-out than he actually was. While it _did_ get annoying from Kol after a while, truth be told, Klaus adored Hope's never ending commentary and felt sure he would miss it very much if she ever outgrew it. She probably wouldn't outgrow it though; Kol never had.

Caroline snickered at the whole affair and Elijah even looked moderately amused. He may have had a low tolerance for Kol's shenanigans but apparently he had as infinite a tolerance for Hope as all of the other Mikaelsons did.

* * *

Caroline wasn't exactly sure how it had happened but, in less than an hour, she found herself left alone at the table with Klaus. Hope had left first, giving Kol a noticeably conspiratorial glance and saying she was sorry to dine and dash but she had things to do if they were going to The Waste later that day. Kol had followed her out not five minutes later saying he was going to rouse Rebekah and find Freya who was absolutely always up early and probably just hadn't joined them for breakfast. This had almost prompted Caroline to ask why their immortal witch sister (And what was the deal with _that_ too? Since when were witches immortal?) was so standoffish but Kol was gone before she could say a word.

Elijah had been the last to leave, luckily handling the situation much more gracefully than their previous companions and not making up some flimsy excuse. Caroline had _felt_ Klaus's glare towards Elijah asking him to leave. Elijah stood up, taking his cup of tea with him as he did, before saying "Well, I'm sure you both have a lot to discuss about Caroline's stay here."

 _At least someone isn't bullshitting me at every turn,_ Caroline thought, annoyed. Well, at least now, she had the opportunity to discuss Klaus's obvious affections and set some boundaries. She hoped it wouldn't come off as hypocritical considering she _had_ been the one to kiss his cheek first last night. But she had been thanking him, that was appropriate. The same move to say good morning seemed unnecessary, right?

But before she could say anything, Klaus was already starting in on whatever had soured his mood earlier during breakfast.

"I hadn't realized that you and Damon had essentially raised _children_ together," he said darkly, as if she'd really kept something hidden from him.

"First of all, let's get one thing perfectly straight: _I_ raised those children, _not_ Damon. Second of all: Why am I the one constantly on trial here?" she demanded. "You were married once too! How come we never talk about _that!"_ She shouted more than asked that last part, he couldn't help but notice.

"Well, love, I had no idea you were so interested!" Klaus replied, pleased. "All you had to do was ask." If this had been during their time before, when she was still a young vampire in Mystic Falls, he might have chosen now as the time to back her up into a wall and force their bodies together.

He knew she wanted it; could smell it on her and wanted to taste it, _badly._

But she was not the same young vampire she'd been back then. This new Caroline had been married, a mother, _a ruler_. If she was keeping her guard up with him, it was because she'd been through enough in her lifetimes to have a _good_ reason for having her guard up. He'd been the same way himself for so many centuries himself, until he'd met her and then he'd had Hope. It would take more than appealing to her through lust…

"What would you like to know?" he asked her, with a broad smile, leaning back in his chair easily.

Caroline sighed, not sure she had _really_ wanted to get into this before deciding. _What the hell, fair is fair. He got my story._

"Well, were you happy?" she asked, repeating the first question he'd asked her when they'd she'd told her story at XS the other evening.

Klaus was looking into his drink and Caroline didn't miss the dark look that crossed his features, though he quickly masked it. He couldn't be _quite_ honest on that front yet. The fact that he'd gotten married less than two years after Caroline wasn't a coincidence. He'd been heartbroken over losing her. He'd grown to care for his wife deeply over their short life together but she had never been Caroline and the heartbreak had been a constant darkness lingering within him. But it seemed pretty clear that letting her know any of that quite this soon would probably scare her off even more.

"She did make me happy," he answered, somewhat evasively.

"What was her name?" Caroline asked next.

"Camille," he replied.

Caroline nodded, feeling unsure of what to say next. Klaus had been adamant that he wanted to have these discussions with her and that alone made this situation pretty uncomfortable for her. Nevertheless, she did feel compelled to ask him…

"No one heard anything about her until after she died," Caroline told him. "We guessed that was probably on purpose."

Klaus nodded in response, "She only agreed to marry me after I vowed to let her stay human. She never wanted to become a vampire. Obviously if she was going to remain mortal, I had to keep her protected as I could. I still had many enemies back then."

Caroline could still barely believe that. It made no sense about Klaus… she knew how he could get obsessive. She'd experienced it first hand. That was part of the reason why his current actions were so confusing to her. If Klaus had been married to a woman and loved her selflessly enough to respect her wishes to remain human and mortal, that was a sign he'd grown up, right? It was also a sign that he'd ultimately moved on from his obsession with her. Then why did so much of his behavior towards her same very much the same?

"I mean, it's a little unbelievable that you never turned her," Caroline admitted. "It just didn't seem… characteristic of you."

 _Marrying Damon Salvatore doesn't seem very characteristic of_ you, he wanted to fire back but didn't. Holding grudges over each other's pasts was no way to start things with Caroline but he _still_ felt like he had a lot of questions about her marriage. That was why he'd started the conversation, after all, but she'd thrown him for a loop by turning the tables. He was pleased that she was curious about his life after all; that had to be good, right?

Klaus shrugged, unsure of what she was looking for. It _had_ been uncharacteristic but the truth was that so much of him changed after having Hope. Situation had all but forced him into remaining cold and unfeeling for a thousand years. Caroline had been the first to break through. Then Hope was foisted upon him and the innate bond between parent and child had _astounded_ Klaus, particularly given his own nasty parental relationships. Loving Hope had helped him to learn to love selflessly for the first time in his life and he had grown from it.

Somehow he _knew_ this was the kind of redemption Caroline had always desperately wanted to see in him but when she'd admitted she had feelings for him all those years ago. But there was nothing he could say to her that to prove that he'd changed and that he'd learned how to care for the people he loved properly. He could only hope she would recognize it over time with him.

So instead he answered her, "Part of the reason Camille was good for me was because of her humanity. It was good for Hope to have someone like that in her life too. I knew what I was getting into with her and I knew it wasn't permanent and that it would hurt when I lost her."

"But you did it anyway," Caroline finished for him.

"But I did it anyway," he agreed. "Though even I didn't expect it to be as short as it was."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I had known Camille for over ten years by the time we got married. She was 36," Klaus began to explain. "Only 16 years later, when she was 52, she passed away in a car accident. I didn't even get the news in time to make it to her to heal her. She died on impact."

"Klaus, I'm so sorry," Caroline said, sincerely. And she was sincerely tempted to break her own rule of cooling things off between them so that she could reach out to touch his hand. But she didn't want him to get the wrong impression. "That's heartbreaking."

And Klaus's voice was genuinely thick with emotion when he answered, "Yes, well, time heals all wounds, doesn't it?" he asked her.

They held each other's gaze unblinking for several long moments, well aware that they were thinking the same thing. _Like hell it does._

* * *

 _ **So probably not a big surprise with Camille turning out to be Klaus's wife. Other reveals will be more shocking. Probably nothing Damon-level shocking but more shocking than this.**_ _ **Lilly Navarro - I think your Davina/Klaus crackship is super interesting and I was**_ **very** _ **tempted to use the idea and have their marriage be like a power-couple over Nola type deal but ultimately I needed it to be Camille. I think Caroline would really respect this part of Klaus's past and start to make her look at him differently more quickly.**_

 _ **Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I'm so glad you're still on board even with the controversial reveal and the fact that it can feel like stories from the past 200 years are being revealed at a glacial pace. Seriously the reviews on this story are some of the most insightful pieces of feedback I've gotten about my writing and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to let me know what's working and what isn't. You guys are awesome and are all of my motivation!**_


	12. Mad Max

_**Just a note: Anyone who left their concerns after I posted the last chapter might benefit from my A/N at the end, even if you usually don't read them. It's a long note, sorry, but people had a lot of worries! Genuine concerns from reviews deserve to be addressed at least once, IMO. I will not be posting any end notes as long as this in the future. Thanks to everyone still sticking with me!**_

* * *

" _I really love a lot but, I fight the ones that fight me," -_ M.I.A., _Lovalot_

 _ **12**_

 _ **Mad Max**_

The conversation had waned quickly after that. These emotionally wrought discussions seemed to take a lot out of both of them, even though Klaus would never be left not wanting _more._ Both of them could tell they were still holding plenty back in their stories. Caroline had never bothered to _really_ answer his question about raising children with Damon, something very much noted by Klaus. He wasn't going to push it today though, considering her asking about Camille of her own volition seemed progress enough.

Caroline, for her part, could tell that Klaus wasn't being entirely honest with her about Camille. As genuinely tragic as his tale was, parts of his story just didn't add up. When exactly had he been married? No one had learned of the marriage until years after Klaus became a widower. He'd apparently kept knowledge of Camille's existence somehow confined almost solely to New Orleans. But now that she knew it had only been 16 years… just figuring out some possibilities in her head, she realized they must have been married not too far apart from one another.

She'd thought about addressing the topic what kind of touching would be appropriate between them going forward but, after the decidedly heavy turn their conversation had taken it seemed a silly and almost pedantic point to bring up. Caroline decided that she would just have to be strong enough in the moment next time he did something to put a firm stop to it. _Easier said then done_ , she thought as she walked away from him and back into the Luxor. They'd parted by awkwardly thanking each other for the discussion though she could tell Klaus wanted her to stay so they could talk more.

Instead she went to wait out the day by herself. Sunset was still hours away and she wanted to give Ridley time to rest so she wasn't exactly sure what to do with herself. Klaus had offered many times already to show her the labs he had set up in the Luxor but she was still putting him off, without having a very good excuse today. The truth was that she wasn't sure she was quite up to spending more alone time with Klaus quite yet, particularly if all of their conversations were going to be about the most painful parts of their pasts.

So for awhile she just roamed the halls of the hotel, getting a sense of who was set up where. It didn't surprise her that her and Ridley's suite had been set up directly beneath Klaus's own, likely due to his overprotective nature. Well, it had certainly come in handy that first morning, that was for sure.

Making her way to the rooms on the north-most face of the pyramid, Caroline could already tell she had stumbled upon the girls' wing of the household. Her vampire senses were picking up on the sounds of Hope, Rebekah, and Freya talking to one another. Rebekah and she had never gotten along entirely well and Freya was still the coldest of the Mikaelsons but Hope made Caroline feel at ease. Perhaps she could trust in Klaus's daughter to put everyone at ease from the get-go at the start of Caroline's stay here for the next six months.

She followed the sounds of their voices to a posh cigar lounge in the hotel that they'd repurposed into a massive library. There she found Freya and Hope bent over a grimoire together while Rebekah lounged in a leather chair nearby offering advice without getting up to help.

"I'm telling both of you you'll have more luck looking through the scrolls Elijah collected from Egypt in the 1100s," Rebekah offered lazily.

"But I'm almost sure I've seen something about it in _here_ … the old Native American tribes from this area had several texts on it, we must just be looking in the wrong one," Freya replied, her tone laced with concentration.

Rebekah noticed her first, "Caroline? Well don't just lurk there like that, come in for God's sake," she snapped at her in typical Rebekah fashion.

Caroline peeked in hesitantly, feeling a bit better when Hope looked up to smile at her warmly, "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt anything."

"We could use a break, actually," Hope said, waving her in fully.

"Speak for yourself," Freya replied, without looking up as she grabbed another old handbound text and beginning to flip through it.

"Don't mind her, she just takes a little while to invite people into the fold," Hope said, waving a dismissive hand at Freya who finally looked up only to silently roll her eyes at Hope.

"No offense taken, totally understandable," Caroline said, given that she herself was still pretty uncertain of each of the Mikaelsons. "Anyway, what are you all working on?"

"A spell for sandstorms!" Hope replied brightly.

"Sandstorms?" Caroline questioned. "Are those a bad problem here?"

"Wow, I'd ask you if you've been… but you _literally have_ been living under a rock for _years_ ," Hope replied with a laugh. "Man, if you think that's the last time I'm going to make that joke, you are sorely mistaken."

"Very funny," Caroline replied drolly but mostly joking with her in return. "I mean, I guess when I was still living in the states I knew that they were occasionally a problem out here?"

"Let's just say now that the environment is still indefinitely screwed, they're much worse," Rebekah said, joining the conversation but still not standing to join them at the table. "But don't worry, you'll get to see one before the week is up."

"Probably not tonight," Hope reassured her, after seeing a hesitant look flash across Caroline's face. "They don't _usually_ happen at night unless the weather has been really wacky but it's been okay recently."

"So what are you trying to work on a spell for?" Caroline asked.

"Something to control the elements," Hope said before throwing her a cheeky grin for what she was about to say next. "As you may recall from our time visiting you in Chiang Mai, we've already got spells for water down pat."

Caroline nodded, "Yeah, no arguments here," she said, remembering the impressive move Hope had pulled at the lake to save them. "I've never seen a spell like that in my life… I thought it was just Biblical, you know?"

"Ancient Sumerian actually," Freya corrected her. She smiled when she saw a look of confusion pass over Caroline's features. "They are the oldest known human civilization and they invented irrigation. Do you really think that happened without magic?"

"Hmm, that makes sense," she replied. Freya was turning out to be a bit abrasive and snobby like Rebekah but, at least she was acknowledging her existence now. Perhaps, like Rebekah, it was just an aspect of her personality you had to take with a grain of salt.

"The land element is turning out to be a bit harder to master," Hope said. "Even if it is just sand."

"Speaking of the _Dividimus_ spell we created when the flooding first started," Freya said, looking up to ask Hope about her trick at the lake one more time as something new occurred to her. "How were you able to use it underground like that? We typically channel the power of the lunar cycle to control a tide."

"I invoked the spirits of the caves," Hope said with a shrug, as if it were the most casual thing in the world. Caroline was shocked.

"Who told you about that?" she asked. "Did Ridley or Ko tell you when they realized you were a witch?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes from where she was sitting and answered for her niece, "She probably just sensed it."

"The Chiang Mai caves have power?" Freya asked, looking between Caroline and Hope curiously.

"Every witch that's ever come to live with us or been born there has been able to sense it," Caroline said. "People's beliefs vary pretty widely across the city so everyone seems to define it differently. Some covens think the power comes from being closer to the core of the Earth itself. Others think it's because the cave's are inhabited by the spirits of our ancestors. No one really knows for sure."

"What did you sense?" Freya asked Hope curiously.

Hope wrinkled her nose in concentration as she tried to put words to the memories. "I did feel closer to the Other Side there. Not like _physically_ closer, just as if it would be easier to connect there," she began to explain, "And to me the power didn't feel like it was coming from within the planet, it was much different. I can't even describe how dark it was down there, Freya, without _any_ access to sunlight. It was almost like the power came from the darkness itself."

Caroline bit her lip, watching the conversation play out with interest. Hope really did have a sharp intuition. Caroline was no witch herself but, even as a vampire, she could sense the power of the dark in the caves. It was alluring, seductive, and it was why she had been shocked to find herself finding herself more at home there than she had ever been _anywhere_ within just a few months of starting the city.

She hadn't even fully admit this to herself yet but, as exciting as it was to be back in America and seeing the sun again, she already missed the dark. She missed feeling like her senses were so much stronger that they bordered on unbelievably powerful. She missed the way it felt to see in total blackness - how sounds began to show you shapes and smells gave you a sense of color. The taste of the dank air around you alone could often tell you your location within the underground system. All of that was muted up here by the overpowering radiance of the light.

Klaus had said she was full of light and she wondered if he still thought that. She still had an appreciation for the light, was glad that she was taking this trip to see it again. But she couldn't deny that the dark was where she felt most at home now.

"What does Ridley say about it?" Freya asked, turning to Caroline fully for the first time. "You know she's very powerful. It's no wonder she's scared of her power. I haven't encountered anything like it since a witch from our days in New Orleans named Davina. But Davina had a huge coven surrounding her to help her understand her magic, Ridley isn't a part of a coven back in Chiang Mai, is she?"

 _These Mikaelson witches and their intuition_ , Caroline balked internally. She suspected that Freya hadn't been told _any_ of that very accurate synopsis explicitly by anyone. Then again, she had gotten a chance to read Ridley that first night at the party. No witch had ever been able to clearly convey to her what reading another witch was like but, Caroline got the impression that it told them _a lot_.

"Well, that's just it, she doesn't say much about it at all because Ridley rarely uses her magic," Caroline admitted, feeling hopeless again as she did every time she had this conversation. "And no, she's not part of a coven. She's been invited to join several and always declined. I had no idea it was because she was scared! No other witch in the city ever mentioned to me that she had more power than seemed normal…"

"Well, she's perfectly _normal,"_ Freya snapped at her, and Caroline had to hold back a smile. It was the exact kind of thing she might have said if she'd been listening to someone else imply that Ridley having extraordinary power was a _weird_ thing. That honestly wasn't how she meant it.

"I just meant more than seemed typical for the other Bennett witches in her line," she explained. "Bonnie's descendants have all been extraordinary witches and warlocks."

"All we have to go by is Bonnie, who so much of my family knew personally," Hope said.

"And the Triplets," Rebekah reminded her, speaking of Bonnie's disappeared grandchildren. "We never met them but we heard enough stories to know the kind of power they had. Is what you sense from Ridley comparable to that?"

"She certainly seems more powerful than anything you, Kol, Elijah, or Klaus has ever told us about Bonnie," Hope said. "And that's saying something, considering Ridley hasn't even started really practicing yet. But, what I sense in her is comparable to the stories we heard about the Triplets. We don't know how true those stories were though…"

"Trust me," Caroline said. "Whatever you heard about those boys… you don't know the half of it." The triplets had been Bonnie's most difficult descendants. She was also beginning to wonder where Ridley might compare on a scale with Kai or any of the other Gemini coven members but, that was another discussion she wasn't willing to get into quite yet. Did they even know about any of that?

"Well, that explains why she isn't using her power then…" Freya said. "She hasn't had anyone around with the kind of experience she needs to teach her properly. If anyone had been able to sense her true potential, they probably would have been powerful enough themselves to be an appropriate tutor for her. Well, don't worry Caroline, we can help take care of that."

And just like that, it seemed she had won over the last of the Mikaelsons. Well, who could ever really say where she truly stood with Rebekah or Kol. Rebekah was either all bluster or she truly was just _that_ disdainful of everyone. Kol was just too insane to ever feel like you knew what he was thinking. He had a history of being quite changeable.

"Thank you, Freya," Caroline replied, truly touched by the elder witch's empathy for Ridley's situation. "I would really appreciate that. I don't want Ridley to ever feel out of control of her magic… and I never realized how bad things were."

"And you'll be pleased to hear that our lessons will have the added benefit of getting Kol and Elijah off her back, for a little while, at least," Hope added with a knowing wink and Caroline laughed.

* * *

It was hours later when Klaus came to find them. Caroline had been helping them dig through Native American texts and scrolls from Ancient Egypt until late in the afternoon to help them with their project. Rebekah had ultimately joined them around the large table they had set up and began teaching Caroline to decipher hieroglyphics - something, it turned out, she had a knack for. More surprising was how nice Rebekah could actually be when she just sat down and made an effort to tone down her snotty attitude for a little while.

Klaus walked through the doors of the library having heard their on-going discussion from much farther down the hall.

"I mean, this definitely seems like some kind of incantation here… the way the same symbol is just repeated again and again, almost in a pattern, like poetry or something?" Caroline said as he entered the room. "And the symbol means… desert land."

"Just add it to the pile for us to review later," Freya requested. "We might have something here. These Navajo texts from a few states away have several spells on sinkholes that involve controlling earth as an element…"

"Sorry to interrupt…" Klaus began as he stepped through the door. They all immediately redirected their attention but none so sharply as Caroline. Her head jerked in his direction at the sound of the voice he almost thought she'd snap her own neck; he had to muffle a laugh at the response. "I just wanted to let you know that it's almost dusk. Ridley is getting ready, if you still want to visit The Waste?"

Hope was the first to jump up excitedly at that, feeling like it had already been too many nights without Vale, "Yes, of course!"

"Alright then, we'll meet in the garage in-"

"Wait a minute," Hope interrupted her father, startled. "You're _coming?"_

Klaus blinked back at her, confused. "Of _course,_ I'm coming."

Hope let out a frustrated sigh, pacing a bit before facing her father again.

"Um, now don't take this the wrong way but…" Hope began delicately.

"But what?" Klaus demanded.

"Well, I'm just not sure people will get the best first impression of Caroline if she arrives with you," Hope explained. "It might rub some people the wrong way."

"Which people?!" he hissed.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "So, I'm getting the picture that Klaus isn't exactly a beloved and benevolent ruler around here," she said. Rebekah shot her a sarcastic look suggesting she'd just made the greatest understatement of the year. "If so, all the more reason for him to join us! Sounds like your father could stand to improve his image around here, Hope. Plus, I can speak for myself just fine. I haven't exactly needed to worry about first impressions in several decades."

Hope looked extremely insecure about the idea of bringing Klaus with them. Internally, all she could think about was how much she _knew_ the vampires out there couldn't stand Klaus. Her father expected them to be ready to respond to any command he might have but, at the same time, stockpiled the city's resources for himself and his hybrids and left her friends in The Waste to fend completely for themselves.

Honestly she was worried about two things. One: Caroline wouldn't be shown everything she needed to see or they wouldn't entirely trust her if they thought she was with Klaus. Two: Hope's friends might be legitimately pissed with her if she brought her family down. She hadn't returned to visit since they'd been back from Chiang Mai. She was almost positive that they were already upset with her for being the reason Klaus showed up unexpectedly after she left for Chiang Mai. Freya's aneurysm trick to get everyone to talk wouldn't have won her any brownie points either.

Sensing at least part of Hope's hesitancy, Caroline leaned over to pat her on the shoulder.

"Hey, and remember, Ko and I have been working with your friends there for months already over the radio," Caroline assuaged her worries. "We've already started building a relationship. And if they don't trust me? Well, we've got six months to change their minds."

Hope looked between Caroline and her father, who was glaring at her in a look that was scary enough to make Hope push into her father's mind to read whatever he was trying to tell her. As clearly as if he was speaking to her out loud his thoughts flooded in: ' _Back off, little girl, you're lucky enough as it is that you haven't been punished for your latest stunt with those hooligans in The Waste.'_ She made no indication that she heard him save for shrugging off the conversation.

"Well, if we're going to get there at sundown, we'll need to get you and Ridley some gear," Hope said. "Cause what you have on now isn't going to cut it for the desert."

* * *

"Christ, I feel like we're going Burning Man!" Caroline commented after Hope had Ridley and herself suited up appropriately for their trip.

"I don't know what the hell Burning Man is but it sounds awful," Ridley replied, also taking stock of their new outfits. Hope and Caroline snickered at her in response.

They both had some of the most extreme, heavy-duty goggle Caroline had ever seen resting atop their foreheads. Wrapped around both of their heads was mix of heavy burlap material, tucked a folded to surround them almost like a turban, and several bandannas hanging loosely from the headdress to be pulled up around the nose and mouth if needed. Hope had just finished instructing both of them on the appropriate way to tuck the bandannas into their turbans so they could still breath if a sandstorm hit and Ridley had been loaded up with a canteen of water, _just in case._

"Alright, let's head to the garage then," Hope said and began to lead the way, with the two women behind her feeling just a bit ridiculous with their new get-up.

But any embarrassment was quickly dwarfed by what awaited them in the garage beneath the hotel. The place was well stocked with vehicles and military tankers of all types imaginable. And milling about the front of one vehicle in particular were Klaus, Kol, and four hybrids.

"Is _this_ how we're getting there?" Caroline asked, gesturing to the enormous mode of transport before her.

"What the hell even is this thing?" Ridley intoned. They were both looking up at it warily.

"It's an old military supertanker from around the time of the First Territory Wars," Klaus explained, grinning at her stunned reaction. "Modified a bit for our needs out in the desert."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I ever remember seeing any tankers quite this… _tall_ ," Caroline replied, sounding like she was even hesitant to get in.

But Hope was cheerily jumping upwards to sit on the hood, leaping over five feet into the air to complete the jump.

"Yeah, we souped her up with 66-inch all-terrain tires," Kol said next, hopping up next to Hope on the hood. "This thing can keep driving in some of the worst sandstorms we have out here."

"Is it…safe?" Ridley couldn't help but ask. The three Mikaelsons couldn't help but laugh back at her.

"Darling, it's the safest thing you'll ever travel in in your _life_ ," Kol assured her. "Except for possibly my arms…"

Ridley rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in a combination of annoyance and amusement at that lame line. Hope, though, punched her uncle harshly in the shoulder.

" _Kol,_ what did she _just_ tell you last night about easing up?" Hope hissed at him.

"She said 'less is more!'" he defended. "I'll have you know that was the first time I've flirted all day today!"

"Debatable," Ridley dead-panned, "But should we get going, I'm anxious to see more of Vegas than just this hotel!"

Hope and Kol both took one of Ridley's hands, grasping her firmly along her forearms to gently pull her up to the car where she promptly disappeared into the tanker. Hope followed her next and Kol went in last. Klaus had just finished instructing his hybrids on which vehicles to follow them in before turning back to Caroline.

"Pretty impressive stuff here," she said to Klaus amicably, trying to gauge his mood before they walked into a neighborhood of people that purportedly couldn't stand him. She gestured to the tanker, "Seriously, this is like something out of _Mad Max!"_

He smiled at her, "Hope and Kol both love building and designing things. I've given them basically free reign to create whatever they want down here in the garage and… well, I wouldn't be at all surprised if _Mad Max_ was very well indeed what inspired most of these."

He gestured vaguely around the room to other hulking cars, tanks, trucks, and some seriously wicked looking motorcycles. Two of the hybrids were hoping onto bikes now.

Klaus flashed up to the top of the tanker, unwinding the heavy metal entrance to get in. He held down a hand to pull her up but she smugly ignored it and flashed up on her own.

Once the entrance to the tank was open, Ridley and Hope's laughter bubbled up from inside. Klaus gestured inside: "Ladies first."

* * *

Klaus drove, of course, with Caroline right up front in the seat next to him so that she could look out the expansive front window out onto the desert as it slowly darkened while evening approached. Because of the massive tires on the tank, every time they drove over a dune it felt more like they were _flying_ over it soaring it seemed like over ten feet in the air at times when they crested a particularly high mountain of sand.

She couldn't help but be nervous at first. 60 years confined to caves had made moving from place to place _much_ slower for the Chiang Mai community and Caroline hadn't been at these kinds of speeds in years. Ridley hadn't ever. Looking back to check on her friend though, she saw her hands clasped tightly to Hope's as the girls whooped and hollered like they might as well have been on a roller-coaster.

"Faster!" Hope demanded and, with a broad smile at her enthusiasm, Klaus pushed the cars speed up to 100 miles per hour.

Kol and the rest cheered in the back as they sped up and even Caroline let out an enthused squeak when they climbed yet another impossibly large dune of sand and sailed over it before landing at the same high speed. Caroline and Klaus caught each others' eye and he spared her a private smile.

She looked unbelievably gorgeous in this moment. Her cheeks were flushed from laughing and gasping alongside Hope and Ridley and her blonde curls were bouncing delicately around her face every time the car jostled them. Her eyes sparkled with mirth. It was all he could do not to reach out and grab her hand, wanting to somehow show her how much her happiness meant to him… but he already needed to start thinking about cooling his demeanor down before they arrived.

Rumors about Caroline were likely already running a muck since the party at XS, there wasn't much he could do about that now. But he needed to be smarter about showing his affections for Caroline going forward. At the end of the day, he would never entirely trust that someone wasn't plotting against him to hurt the ones he loved. That kind of lingering paranoia was just in Klaus's nature. And, so far, it had almost always come in handy.

"God, it really _is_ like _Mad Max_ out here," Caroline breathed as their vehicle began to slow as it pulled up to the neighborhood. You could see the shanty town that made up The Waste from the window, looking like a derelict and tortured Burning Man for prisoners. The comparisons she'd been making earlier in the garage had not nearly prepared her for the town that awaited them. It really did look like something out of a desert survival movie.

"I love that movie," Hope said behind her.

"Really? Me too! That's a little before your time," Caroline said, surprised.

"Come on," Hope chided with a teasing grin, "You were born less than 25 years before me. We're both over 200 now, we're practically the same age."

"Gods don't remind me," Klaus growled lowly.

Hope couldn't suppress her victorious smile. Going out of her way to make Klaus feel uncomfortable was one of her life's missions.

Stepping out of the tank, Caroline was unsure of where to look first. On one hand, being this far out of the city and into real desert left her with a view of the biggest open expanse of space she'd seen in years. The darkening desert stretched out endlessly in front of her for miles and miles. And even when her eyes got to the line of the horizon, above the land the sky opened up into another endless view. Stars were starting to peek out and twinkle as the sun finished setting and Caroline was once again struck by the beauty she'd been missing in the caves all these years.

Looking over, she could see Ridley was thinking the same things. Only Ridley looked even more emotionally wrought by the desert vistas than Caroline was. Caroline abruptly realized that, for a young witch who had grown up in a tightly packed system of already very narrow caves, seeing a site like this would be quite moving. _Moved_ , was exactly the word Ridley would have described about seeing the desert and night sky like this. Having never left Chiang Mai, Ridley had honestly never had a real perspective on how big a place the world really was until right now.

The thought brought tears to her eyes and, seeing that, Caroline immediately made a move to go comfort her friend. Before she could though, Kol had tucked Ridley into his side, comfortingly stroking her arm. Caroline's first thought was to be annoyed with him taking advantage of the situation but Hope put out a hand to stop her from doing anything. For once, Hope believed Kol's intentions might be genuinely altruistic.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Kol asked Ridley, not saying anything to make her emotional response seem out of the ordinary.

"Yeah, it really is," Ridley said, lifting her hands to wipe away her tears. "I'm sorry, I'm being silly-"

"No," Kol stopped her. "You're not being silly at all. It _is_ beautiful. No one should be afraid to cry at beauty."

Turning from the pair, suddenly feeling like she was intruding on a private moment, Caroline turned towards the second thing that had caught her attention: The Waste.

The town was apparently nothing more than a mass of tents upon tents upon tents… clearly several hundred of them. Some of set-ups were single-person camping tents and others were much larger, more heavy-duty constructions made from light reflecting material that very well may have come from NASA itself. Dozens of people were bustling about the desert shantytown - all wearing goggles and bandannas or similar protective gear, most of them covered in a fine dusted layer of red-golden sand - and they were now beginning to collect to see who had arrived.

"Oh! There's Vale!" Hope called out excitedly and began rushing over to the edge of the town where a few people were waving her over.

Not everyone at The Waste appeared so enthused though. Many of them were pointing with concerned expressions. And her vampire hearing was strong enough to pick up multiple distrusting murmurs of the name " _Klaus."_

Hope had been right. They weren't happy he was here.

* * *

 _ **To the most important point from a review…. ;) Yes, the rating will eventually go up to an M. Not exactly sure how soon but there WILL be frickle frackle, do not worry CKhybrid! This just happens to be a very slow burn KC story cause there's so much ground to cover.**_

 _ **So I hope I've conveyed before that if people have really specific concerns with the Damon thing going forward, I will frequently address it in author's notes. However, since I'm getting a lot of repeat reviews expressing the same worries each chapter, I can only say the same thing as last time which is there is more to the story than has been revealed and I'd love to have a chance for you to see where I'm going with it. Or, if you really, truly can't stomach it… then this might not be the fic for you. This is going to be a long story so: 1) The previous marriages aren't going to be the focus, it just seems like you're getting a lot about it now as I'm just trying to move through as much history in the 200 years they've been apart as possible in the first 15 chapters if I can. 2) I've said from the get-go that a lot of this fic is me trying to reconcile where I ultimately see the shows going before they ever give us Klaroline. I mentioned briefly that she dated Stefan first and obviously TO is shoving Klamille down our throats… a huge part of the point of these marriages in this story IS to seem off the wall and out of character because that's what these shows are doing recently. My fic is supposed to be a way of saying "Hey, it doesn't matter what crazy BS these shows pull to prevent Klaroline from happening because we can always find a way to make it happen! No matter what insanity you come up with to keep them apart!"**_

 _ **And just to touch upon some points with Klamille. Yes, Klaus grew to care for Camille but he didn't love her and THAT was largely why he let her stay human, because she wasn't his one-true epic love and deep down he knew that. He also outright admitted in his internal thoughts that he only married her to try to get over Caroline, it didn't work, and that Camille could make him happy sometimes but overall the answer to Caroline's question "Were you happy?" was "No" because Camille isn't Caroline. Klaus calling himself selfless in his marriage to Camille is delusional and, in a certain way, he's just trying to tell Caroline what he thinks she wants to hear. Admittedly she does respect him more now thinking he respected Camille's wishes. Once she knows the truth about Camille being a shoddy replacement for herself? Yeah, that's probably going to be a pretty big point of contention with them. His marriage to her was largely selfish as is the way he sometimes still treats Caroline now, as many people have pointed out. He wasn't as pushy with Camille because he was simply never that interested in Camille in my fic. These are all intentional things and will hopefully play out cleanly over time to make sense.**_

 _ **My only explanation of why I have the marriages at all is that both marriages are**_ **supposed** _ **to be pretty big mistakes in the histories of Caroline and Klaus. I like working with characters that have made epic mistakes and then ultimately grow from the experience. Some people get into bad marriages and stay in them until the day they die. Caroline and Damon had an eternity, though, so they got a second chance when they figured out what a mistake they'd made. Neither of these previous marriage plot-lines are not supposed to be sunshine and rainbows here. They're supposed to be something that fundamentally changed Caroline and Klaus and ultimately makes them ready for each other when they do meet again. That will play out more over the story.**_

 _ **LoveOfAVampire hit the nail on the head and I'm not sure they even realized exactly how appropriate their review was, "There might be more to that story."**_ _ **jasminesandlillies**_ _**you were spot on too in that Klaus was being very evasive last chapter. Klaus and Caroline have both had ONE conversation with each other about their past marriages (Caroline's uncomfortably told in front of a bunch of people no less) and they're both still being extremely careful about exactly how much they reveal. If anyone thinks they've learned even a third of what really happened in those marriages, how they started, and what motivated their behaviors in them… you're incorrect. These stories won't be fully revealed or fleshed out for awhile, this is just a taste as Klaus and Caroline are awkwardly learning how to talk with each other and catch up again after 200 years.**_

 _ **Anyway, it's a part of the plot that isn't going away so if it's really such a tough pill to swallow that you can't enjoy**_ **any** _ **other aspects of the story without thinking about it… I'm sorry and thanks for giving the story a chance to begin with! Thanks to everyone else who's still with me, especially those of you who hate the Damon thing but are still around cause you're on board with the rest of the fic. Love it or hate it, I always welcome all reviews!**_


	13. When An Unstoppable Force

_"Oh, monsters are scared. That's why they're monsters."_

 _― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane_

* * *

 _ **When An Unstoppable Force...**_

 _ **13**_

"Alright, maybe I should go first…" Hope said with a large amount of trepidation. Caroline got a bad feeling in her stomach. If Hope was this concerned then maybe Klaus _shouldn't_ have come with them.

As she strolled slightly ahead of them, Klaus was not content to wait too far behind and followed her almost immediately.

"Oh this is going to be _so much fun_ ," Kol snickered behind them.

Throngs of people were piling up in front of their tents now and Caroline could see these people were living a life very different from the luxury that Klaus had set up in the city. Whoever had been forced into joining their strange little party the night she had arrived had only been a _fraction_ of the population out here. It was nowhere near as large as the community they'd set back up in Chiang Mai but there were still easily over 500 people living out here.

And not all of them looked as well cared for as the several dozen that had shown up for Klaus's "event," something she was beginning to realize had been _orchestrated_ to give her a very particular impression of Klaus's home. Most of the people they were approaching did not look like the type of guests Klaus would ever have considered suitable to invite into one of his establishments. No, most of the people in this community were _hard._

Nearly everyone was filthy, their clothes and skin and hair all covered in a layer of red dust and sand. Hope was making her way over to Ezra and Vale, awaiting them at the head of the group of people amassing. Even they were looking a little worse for wear in the few days since they'd last seen them, their time back in The Waste clearly settling back into their features.

"Hope you didn't tell us _he'd_ be coming," Ezra hissed out at her as she walked up. Vale immediately tucked her into his side, kissing her temple in an affectionate hello but, he was quiet, looking around at the people behind him with concern.

"Do you think this was my choice?" she asked.

Caroline was following her more slowly than Klaus, putting up a hand to signal that Ridley stall a bit as well.

The huge group of people they were approaching were staring out at them all completely silently. They looked _eerie_ , standing there unmoving and practically unblinking in the darkening sand covering all of them had the strangely sinister effect of making them all look _the same_. Why weren't they saying _anything,_ doing _anything?_ They had chapped lips, hair naturally dreaded thanks to the sand and wind, bodies wrapped up in scarves and bandannas and _layers_ of clothing to protect from the elements.

"Look you're going to have to leave… _he_ can't be here. People are still pissed about what he did when you left-" Ezra was abruptly cut off.

They were officially close enough now that Caroline was able to peer between the rows of dusty and tightly packed tents where the vampires still stared suspiciously out at them. Caroline got her first look at the living environments of the group in the waste. She was, unequivocally, appalled.

Some of these people were living in spaces as small as 30 square feet per person or less. Caroline had a knack for being able to eyeball the size of a space. Space was such a commodity in the narrow cave systems of underground Chiang Mai that, after decades of mapping out new living spaces, Caroline knew what a small room was when she saw it. These tents were _small._

Most of the neighborhood's residents were watching Klaus with angry eyes but a few of them were gazing quizzically at her. Caroline noticed they _all_ had rings, ornate things that looked like daylight rings. She remembered Ezra or Vale had mentioned there were still witches in The Waste. How many witches did they have to make this many rings?

"Well, you're very much mistaken about that," Klaus growled out to Ezra, stepping up to her close enough so that he was encroaching on her personal space and peering down at her angrily. "I don't _have_ to do anything."

The second he started his intimidating routine with Ezra, the crowd surrounding them finally broke it's angry silence.

At first, it was just one person. _Hissing._

But it only took a few seconds for the rest of the crowd to join in. One after another, the members of the crowd around them join together hissing in unison, like they were heckling a vicious inmate on death row. The sound rose in a huge wave, surrounding them in the silence of the desert in a sharp warning. All of them except Klaus couldn't help but take a step back and pause when they heard it.

Caroline could see Klaus's fists clench at his sides in anger and heard him begin to growl. He plowed ahead on his path to The Waste, unperturbed besides his anger. The hybrids that had accompanied them were eyeing the scene from behind them, ready to pounce on Klaus's order.

"Get this under control or _I_ will," Klaus spat at Ezra. Ezra just looked behind her hopelessly.

And then, for a second, things seemed to move in slow motion. A man from the crowd rushed up out of nowhere and promptly spit into Klaus's face.

" _Dad, no!"_

Hope's shriek fell on deaf ears as Klaus launched himself at the man, his double fangs appearing as he grabbed hold of the fool within seconds. Klaus prepared to latch into the man's neck but Hope was on him before he had the chance.

It was one of the most unsettling but simultaneously kind of spectacular sights Caroline had ever witnessed, watching the two most powerful creatures to have ever existed - father and daughter no less -suddenly begin to fight. Hope made _no_ effort to go easy on her father, punching him hard enough to send him reeling backwards and immediately lose his hold on the man. Klaus, of course, made no effort to hurt his daughter, only subdue her.

" _Kol!"_ he ordered, asking his brother to get a handle on Hope while he returned to the antagonistic group now bearing down on them from The Waste. His brother was there in a second, pinning Hope down. She was less willing to make an attack on her uncle but, frantic to get back to her father and prevent his wrath, she clawed at Kol anyway as Klaus turned back to The Waste.

When he turned back, though, he was met by Caroline who had flashed in front of him.

"Klaus, I want to go back. I don't want to be out here right now, take us back to the hotel," she implored him.

He snarled, his eyes flashing up to the vampires still glaring at him, helping up their now-terrified friend who he'd almost attacked. Klaus had no desire to leave on their terms.

"Klaus, _please?":_ Caroline asked again.

It was his first instinct to keep going. It was his first instinct to ignore her. But those feelings were cleared away fairly quickly when Klaus met her eyes. There he found turmoil - confusion, disappointment, trepidation… _hurt? Why was she hurt?_

Klaus yelled out in frustration. And then he simply turned around to storm off towards their tank.

"I _will_ be back and it will not be on _your_ schedule," Klaus promised, throwing Ezra a meaningful glare over his shoulder. "Hope bring that idiot _boy_ of yours with you!"

Caroline spared one parting glance to the group behind her. Now _all_ of the attention was focused on her. Who was this woman and how had she shut down Klaus Mikaelson's impulses just by saying _please?_

* * *

The ride back had been… _tense,_ to put it mildly. Klaus was not driving to be fun anymore. No, he was driving to let off steam. He was plowing over the sand dunes at break-neck speed to get back to the city in record time. Caroline had turned around to make sure Ridley had a seatbelt on - she _did,_ thank god - and turned her attention back to Klaus who was gripping the wheel like he wanted to rip it off.

And the second they arrived back at the Luxor he sped off angrier than Caroline could remember seeing anyone in a long time.

"Well, how long is he gonna pout about this for?" Caroline asked Hope.

The girl shrugged, still looking very concerned. Hope wasn't sure who her father was more mad at - Caroline or herself - but at the end of the day, neither one of them had to worry about anything. The vampires who'd shown Klaus such blatant disrespect at The Waste would likely not be so lucky, though.

"What exactly did your father do after you came to Chiang Mai, hope?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know…" Hope said. "He told me that Freya went down and performed the aneurysm spell until they told him where I went…"

"That's not all he did…" Vale murmured.

"What?" Hope asked, turning to him with wide eyes. Her voice was a whisper. She almost didn't want to hear the truth but she had to know.

Kol answered first.

"Your father killed a dozen people out at The Waste when he first got there," Kol said. " _That_ was out of rage. The hybrids were sent after he left… they killed five more people who'd pissed him off before he left. _That_ was to prove a point."

" _Shit,"_ Hope moaned, putting a hand over her eyes.

Caroline shuddered. _I knew it_ , she thought, _I knew he hadn't changed._ She caught Ridley's eye. _Do you understand now? These are not the vampires in Chiang Mai, you can't trust them._

Ridley, though, was just looking back at Caroline like she was studying her. The intensity of her gaze actually made Caroline break out in mild goosebumps. Had Ridley just used magic?

"Well, what do we do in the meantime?" Vale asked. "I suppose he's dragged me back here to question me. But it looks like I have _some_ peace before that happens. Who knows where he's dashed off to."

"His study to brood," Hope answered lowly. Kol laughed but her mood was not improved.

Ridley seemed to snap out of her contemplation of Caroline as she looked up at the rest of the group.

"Well, since our trip is canceled, let's move on. You all may not need to eat quite so regularly but I do," Ridley replied. "Can someone show me where the kitchens are in this place?"

* * *

By the time Klaus's third glass of whiskey broke on the wall of his study, Elijah finally entered. Klaus had torn the place apart, throwing over furniture and entire bookshelves.

"You all are back much sooner than anticipated," Elijah began pragmatically.

Klaus whirled on him, his eyes flashing golden. "Now is _not_ the time to taunt me, brother."

"Well… I _have_ been informed what occurred out in the desert," he admitted. "One of the hybrids gave me a report."

"Then you know that, to the vampire community outside our city, our family has been reduced to a level of weakness they _will_ test," Klaus growled.

"Niklaus…" Elijah sighed, "I believe that is a dramatically pessimistic view of the situation."

"Well you were not _there_ , were you?" Klaus all but screamed out.

Elijah stood in front of Klaus without wincing, waiting for him to explain what he was really most concerned over. Shoulders heaving as he panted in anger, Klaus finally gave in and continued to explain.

"They now know that I have more than one weakness," Klaus said. "As long as Hope was traipsing around there, it was an inevitability that they'd learn she mattered to me. But Hope is strong… stronger than me. She can protect herself."

"And you worry Caroline cannot?" Elijah asked, finishing his brother's thought.

"Against an entire army of vampires and witches? _Of course not!"_

Elijah shook his head in response.

"Are we still talking about the same woman who you recently told me survived being attacked by a monster on an underground lake?" Elijah prompted him and Klaus had to stop his angry pacing for a moment when he realized his brother was right. Caroline had been running an entire city by herself - apparently more successfully than he - for decades now.

"Not to mention, I'd hardly refer to a long-established community of people outside of our city as an army," Elijah said next, when Klaus didn't respond. "I've seen the living conditions out there, their lives are hard. They aren't a threat to us."

In some part of his still rational brain, Klaus knew that was exactly , he felt terribly wounded, and that feeling was winning out.

"Never underestimate the abilities of a feral and starving dog," Klaus finally responded. Truly he was just thinking about dealing with Caroline now.

"We've never seen eye to eye on how to rule, Niklaus, and I don't believe that's about to change now. It takes more to rule than instilling fear in people," Elijah said. "But we can discuss our next move later, you know I will support you. Family over everything. Right now though, don't let your wounded pride dictate your behavior and ruin any progress you might have made with Caroline."

Klaus had to suppress a grimace. That was the thing. He didn't really feel like he'd made any progress at all anyway.

* * *

Relaxing in the kitchen and was a surprisingly nice way to temporarily forget about the Klaus drama. Hope cracked open some beers for everyone and Ridley began to make tacos.

"Who is this?" Ridley asked as a band started to play from Hope's computer that she'd brought down to the kitchens with them.

"Silverwear," Hope answered, as an unintelligible rasping human voice began to sing accompanied by heavy percussion. "They're a weird French funk band from the 2060's, right before the First Territory Wars."

"That's a dumb name," was all Ridley had to say in response.

"Well, you see, it's not Silver _ware_ , w-a-r-e" Hope explained, jumping to the band's defense, "It's Silver-w-e-a-r. They only ever wore silver outfits. Get it?"

"God that's even _dumber_ ," Ridley laughed.

"Yes, I do remember thinking so around the time Hope began listening to them nonstop," a new deep voice agreed. Approaching them from across the kitchen was Elijah. Caroline was sure that if anyone had reported for damage control with Klaus yet, it would probably have been Elijah. She smiled up at him, searching his face for clues but he didn't betray anything.

"Hey, Silverwear was _great!"_ Kol interjected.

"I have to admit," Caroline offered up, "I was a pretty huge fan back in the day."

"I can't believe you just said ' _back in the day,'"_ Hope replied. "Anyway, in their defense, people were kind of running out of band names by then."

Hope sighed, her mind slipping away from this discussion as she looked towards her Uncle Elijah. "Have you… talked to him?" Hope asked Elijah, putting an end to their benign conversation, when she acknowledged her uncle's presence.

Elijah crossed his arms before answering her, "I'm sure you can imagine that he's far from _pleased_ right now. His ego is badly bruised."

"What? Are you _kidding_ me?" Caroline asked appalled.

Everyone looked towards her confused so she began to explain herself.

"The way those people are living out there…" she started. "It's _inhumane._ And on top of it all, Klaus is still getting his way by _murdering_ people on a whim? And _we're_ going to stand here fussing over his bruised ego?"

"Don't be daft, love," a cold voice echoed out from behind Elijah. Slow steps were approaching them and a moment later Klaus had rounded the corner to enter the kitchen. His glare was still dark. "This is about much more than a bruised ego. How am I supposed to rule a city if I can't keep a group of hooligans in the desert in check."

"Maybe it's not about keeping people in _check_ ," she growled at him. " _Maybe_ it's about earning respect!"

"Uh, well, the tacos are done…" Ridley's voice awkwardly interrupted from behind them.

"Fantastic!" Klaus said with disturbingly bright fake-enthusiasm. "Shall we take our discussion up to one of the dining rooms then?"

He whirled around in a silent order for them all to follow without further explanation and Caroline had to roll her eyes. She didn't know how long Klaus was going to play out this pouting routine but _she_ wasn't going to put up with it much longer. If she had to gain their trust at The Waste by visiting without Klaus, that was damn well what she was going to do.

"Uh oh," Hope said softly, mostly to herself but Ridley caught her eye at the same moment. She was wearing the same expression. They both knew their respective guardians well enough to know that the upcoming dinner was about to take an ugly turn.

* * *

"So Vale," Caroline promptly began, not one to shy away from Klaus's moods. "I have to admit I was a bit surprised by the town you all have set up out there…"

Vale, who had been _very_ much hoping to make it through this dinner without attracting any attention to himself if possible, almost choked on the water he'd taken a sip of. Hope was shaking her head in exaggerated disappointment, throwing him a look that seemed to suggest _Cool it, kid._

"It's certainly no Chiang Mai," Vale began tentatively, avoiding looking at Klaus. "The desert is a harsh place…"

"And _why_ exactly is everyone living out there anyway? There's an entire abandoned city here with power still set up to most of it. Why isn't anyone using what's left?" she asked.

"Because nothing within the city limits is _theirs_ , Caroline. Vegas belongs to me," Klaus growled darkly as he poured himself blood and served himself nothing else.

"Right," Caroline replied, snapping her neck towards him. "I guess I must have forgotten that appropriating entire cities for yourself is kind of your thing. New Orleans wasn't enough?"

"Well, okay everyone," Hope began in the most chipper camp-counselor voice she could muster, "It would seem that our dinner is taking a little bit of a hostile turn so, you know what? How about we all take some time to regroup? Let's go around the table and have everyone say the best part of their day!"

Kol snickered at his niece's tone. Hope was clearly genuinely trying to redirect the conversation but, she was also not-so subtly making fun of the intensity of the fight that was brewing. He decided to jump in on the action.

" _My_ favorite part of the day is right now," he told her immediately. "I'm finding this _extremely_ entertaining!"

Klaus and Caroline both shot him withering glares and Hope clasped her hands together in fake enthusiasm, pursing her lips in annoyance before responding.

" _Thanks,_ Uncle Kol," she said sarcastically. "My favorite part of the day has been trying Ridley's cooking! For someone who has never left their hometown before now, you really have a talent for world cuisine! These tacos… are _fantastic."_ She made an overly-emphatic pointing gesture to punctuate the statement.

"Erm, thanks," Ridley replied awkwardly.

"And then we _lost_ New Orleans in the floods," Klaus snapped right back. "I needed somewhere I could keep my family safe. This is one of the few remaining parts of the world mostly free from the disease and also not engulfed in the inferno! And, _further,_ may I remind you that I did not come into your city and begin telling you how to run things!" .

"No, you just forcibly removed me from it," she volleyed right back to him. "And I'm not trying to tell you what to do or how to run things! It was just an opinion!"

Klaus was about to reply that he hadn't asked for her opinion but, despite the annoyance flowing through his veins, he had the sense to bite back the comment. Somehow he doubted that would do over well with Caroline. Instead he tried appealing to her maternal instinct.

"You of all people should understand doing anything to protect your children, Caroline," Klaus snarled, realizing this was still a low blow. "Hope is my main concern. Before she was born it may have been ruling a city like New Orleans but, now, it is only her."

"Hey, leave me out of this," Hope interjected. "I've been taking care of myself just fine for years and I hang out in The Waste all the time. I know everyone over there!"

Klaus leveled a glare at his daughter who was supposed to be backing him up here. Nonplussed by the look, Hope continued to prattle on.

"Besides, I've been of the opinion for years now that you run this place like a freaking security state! But what do I know?" she prattled on, "Just history!"

Next to her Kol let out a laugh at that last quip and surreptitiously high fived his niece under the table. Luckily the move went unnoticed by Klaus, who was back to staring down Caroline, used to his daughter's rebellious diatribes by now. He'd long ago learned as a parent that it was best to pick your battles anyway.

Couldn't they both see how ridiculous they were behaving? Caroline's points were valid and Hope agreed with all of it but she was pretty sure this was a discussion better suited for the two of them to have in private. Time to try redirecting the conversation again... She lifted one of the tacos Ridley had made, gesturing to the tortilla.

"You know, I've spent _years_ saying I'm more of a corn tortilla type of girl," Hope said as if she was completely oblivious to the fight. "It's just not true. Flour tortillas are really the only way to go. Their flavor doesn't compromise the integrity of the filling! What does everyone else think?"

"Hope, please," Elijah said finally, putting a firm stop to his niece's interjections.

"Yeah, okay. You're probably right about that," she replied to her uncle, who had not even needed to explicitly suggest anything to her to get his point across. There was a time and place for rambling and this was not it. She simmered down immediately.

"Well, I'm going back there _without_ you and-" Caroline started before Klaus quickly interrupted her.

"You most certainly will _not!"_ he roared. Caroline's eyes widened, stunned by the intensity of the rage that instantly swelled within her at that declaration. Hope and Ridley both winced. Klaus seemed to notice his mistake the moment the words popped out and was now making a facial expression that very much suggested he wanted to take them back.

With an angry scoff, Caroline rose from her seat and threw her napkin on the table. "If you think you can start dictating any part of my life to me now, I will go out and _live_ in The Waste until the end of my six months here are over."

It was an empty threat; they both knew that. She would never take Ridley to try to survive out there.

She turned to leave but Klaus stopped her with one final word.

"Look, Caroline, I didn't come to your city and start telling you how to run things. I would hope that you'd respect me enough to at least return the courtesy," Klaus said. "You're here to help us with research, not manage our politics."

"You're right," Caroline said, over her shoulder, still walking away. "I guess I'll keep that in mind going forward. Just research."

Once she was out of the room Klaus cursed before vamp speeding away himself, in the opposite direction Caroline had gone in.

"Well, I actually think that went a lot better than expected!" Kol said before cheerily scarfing down a taco.

* * *

Ridley had made excuses to go follow Caroline after that, to make sure she was alright. She'd found her back in their suite pacing around looking tired and frustrated.

"Do you want to talk about it?" was met with Caroline shaking her head.

"I just want to go to bed," she said. Ridley was worried about her; Caroline didn't let people get to her like this. Damon had once told her that hadn't always been the case - apparently back in their days in Virginia Caroline had been pretty easy to rile up. But tragedy over the years had hardened her and taught her patience… until Klaus Mikaelson was back in the picture, apparently.

Things unfortunately hadn't smoothed over by the next morning either. Ridley, Vale, and Hope were having breakfast together at one of the booths in the hotel's old cafe when they'd seen Klaus storming past them, still in a horrible temper from the previous evening.

"Looks like someone's still pouting," Ridley muttered into her coffee.

Hope nodded thoughtfully before replying, "I'm sure he's just having a bad morning. Like, he's probably been up for over three hours now and hasn't yet had an opportunity to call anyone a wretch _or_ a cur. And, I mean, _how_ is he supposed to successfully start his day without doing that?"

Ridley quirked an eyebrow up and let out an amused snort.

"You are so peculiar, Hope," she said, her tone holding nothing but fondness.

"Thanks!" the blonde replied with an over-sized grin before snatching a strawberry off of Ridley's plate and popping it into her mouth.

"He still hasn't said anything to _me_ ," Vale said. "But he made me come back with you all, do you think I'm allowed to leave?"

"Sheesh, finish breakfast before you dash off," Hope quipped. "Make a gal feel like a one night stand, why don't you?"

"Ha _ha_ , very funny," Vale said. "You know I always want to spend more time with you but it puts a damper on the mood when your girlfriend's father could be lurking around any corner to kill you."

"If he kills another vampire from that neighborhood, Caroline will never forgive him," Ridley said. "Do you think he knows that? Someone should tell him that!"

"Trust me, he knows," Hope said. "But look at you! You sure sound concerned!"

"I just have a vibe about them man…" Ridley admitted. "Caroline's had pretty shit luck with men."

"She talks about her ex warmly enough," Vale prompted and Hope wished she could high five him. She'd been wanting more on that story since the first summary but she couldn't think of a natural way to bring it up again.

"Yeah because they were friends," Ridley said with a shrug. "But for heaven's sake, their marriage started out as a political alliance! Some power move within the Return to Eden organization… Caroline and Damon can both be vague about the specifics."

"An alliance?" Hope asked. "That's something my dad would maybe want to know…"

"Hope, you can't. That's not fair to Caroline, I shouldn't have even told you," Ridley pleaded.

"You just said you had a vibe about them! Do you not want this to work out?" Hope pushed.

"I do but I think they have to be the ones that work it out!" Ridley said. "Anyway, you've just met Caroline herself. I know we're both awesome but what makes you so sure she's the one for your dad?"

Vale was the one to choke down a laugh at that. He sat up to look at her disbelievingly. "What? Do you not _know?"_ he asked.

"Know what…?" she replied in confusion.

"What did Caroline tell you about my dad?" Hope asked her.

"I dunno, that he was an Original… a hybrid. He'd terrorized her town and friends when she was younger and that he had a thing for her," Ridley said. "Okay that synopsis sounds bad. I swear she was able to tell it like that and somehow _also_ sound fond of him."

Hope laughed, "No, I get it. But let's just say it was a little more than a _thing."_

"How much more?" Ridley asked.

"Alright, settle in. I don't know everything but I know a lot and this is gonna take awhile."

* * *

Caroline had considered moping in her room all day but shuddered at the thought of behaving so childishly and forced herself out of bed. Ridley was nowhere to be found which meant she was starting to acclimate to the sun enough to enjoy the day. She found her with Hope and Vale eating breakfast and having coffee.

The three of them were leaning close together across the table and whispering. No, not whispering. She'd have been able to hear that. Hope had performed a cloaking spell… suspicious.

"What are you all doing?" Caroline asked.

They snapped back from one another like they'd been scalded. Hope waved a hand and the cloaking spell came off.

"Oh, sorry Caroline you scared us. My dad's been skulking around all morning, we didn't want him to hear us," Hope lied smoothly and easily.

"Skulking around, huh?" Caroline asked, looking unimpressed. "Typical. Anyway, some of us have work to get started on here. Hope, could you take me up for a tour of the labs?"

"I'd be happy to but let me grab my dad too-"

"Do you _have_ to?"

Hope smirked, for a split second looking very much like the man in question himself.

" _Yes,_ Caroline," she trilled back and stood up from the table, gesturing for the other blonde to follow.

* * *

 _ **Have I mentioned that this is a slow-burn Klaroline story? Yeah, sorry about that but there is so much freaking plot and backstory to establish in a fic like this… We've got some good Klaroline scenes coming up. Plus, I personally enjoy Klaroline in this slightly pissed-off dynamic; it's got a sexy vibe to it. This story definitely has become more ensemble focused than I anticipated but I also just think the Klaroline is a bit sparser for the time being since this really is the**_ **very** _ **beginning of what I have planned for this fic. 13 chapters in and this has really just barely started.**_

 _ **Lilly Navarro, I wasn't familiar with Vanessa Morgan until I googled her after your review but MAN, I am on board! I am also officially picturing her in my head when I write Ridley now. Feel free to fancast at your leisure cause that suggestion was spot on.**_

 _ **I'm so sorry for the delay everyone. I wanted this updated for Klaroline AU week's future prompt but I've been in the midst of planning a major surprise party this past month and I finally pulled it off without a hitch last night so hopefully I can start updating more regularly again. #SurprisePartyQueen**_


	14. Fantasies

_**A/N: WARNING RATED M NOW. Don't get too excited! We're up to an M rating but not because there's any legit smut yet. I just realized in this chapter that things will be getting graphic on a lot more levels… disturbing images, cursing, yadda yadda. Plus, dirty thoughts and dirty flashbacks start enough in this chapter that it's verging on smut territory and would just be misleading for where this fic is gonna go if I didn't bump up the rating now. Enjoy!**_

* * *

" _Give me hope, help me cope with this heavy load, trying to touch and reach you with heart and soul,"_ George Harrison, _Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)_

 _ **Fantasies**_

 _ **14**_

"Good morning, love," he had the audacity to start with when they entered his study.

The withering glare she shot him in return was enough to make him feel sufficiently chastised.

"Morning," Caroline replied primly as Hope rolled her eyes at the whole thing.

"I was just about to take Caroline up to the labs," Hope said.

"Fantastic, I'll join you!"

" _Peachy,"_ Caroline muttered under her breath. Was he really going to pretend like nothing had happened the night before. _Just pretend you're at work. Pretend he's an annoying coworker. People have to be civil at work all the time, right?_

"I know you mentioned bringing Ridley up for the first tour," Hope continued as she led their group out of the study. "But it would probably be best for you to have a sense of what she's walking into first. Just to make sure you think it's safe for her."

"I agree, that sounds good," she replied, sticking close to Hope and trying to stay a few brisk and purposeful paces ahead of Klaus.

Klaus had realized last night, of course, that he was going to need to do something to fix this with her. It simultaneously infuriated him and made him nervous as hell that he'd already gone too far - proven that nothing about him had changed. Surely she didn't think he was completely irredeemable? Not after some of the things they'd shared in the past few days.

He glanced nervously over to her after sticking to her side, step for step. Her eyes were buzzing with annoyance and disappointment. The disappointment hurt, he couldn't lie; seeing that felt a bit like a bad punch to the gut. But annoyance wasn't the worst thing in the world, he could work with that. She'd been almost perpetually annoyed with him when they'd known each other back in the 21st century and that hadn't deterred her from… _Well, best not to think that far ahead quite yet._

The labs were up on one of the higher floors of the pyramid. After a long and awkwardly silent elevator ride up - which Hope very unhelpfully did _not_ break for once in her life, trying to force the two of them to work it out on their own - they began walking down a long corridor with a few hybrids stationed around with guns for security.

They first opened a seemingly normal looking door with old signage in front of it labeling the room as the hotel's infirmary and 24-hour nurse station. But beyond the old hotel door lay a heavy-duty metal door to what looked like a safe.

"Whoa, how'd you get that in here?" Caroline asked.

"We ripped it from one of the older casinos," Klaus answered and he watched her nod in response in what he could have sworn looked like moderate approval.

Hope punched in a long combination to the safe door and then began to rotate it's giant circular handle, the sounds of gears clicking into place before she swung the door wide open.

"Alright, let's suit up," Hope said as she led them through into an antechamber with medical garb, shower stations, a drain in the middle of the room, and a few lockers. Hope opened one of them and began tossing a few things to Caroline, a lab coat and goggles, thick rubber gloves, cloth protectors to slide over her shoes and, of course, a medical mask and hair protector.

They had all of these precautions in Chiang Mai as well, not because vampires were worried about catching the disease but simply because it was so contagious and they could carry it. Caroline had to keep things contained well within their tight system of caves because one person catching the disease could wipe out their human and wolf population within less than a month. It was why she didn't let Ridley anywhere near the patients, even if she was recruited to help out with other parts of research.

Once they were all covered - Klaus throwing her looks that still clearly suggested he was smitten despite the ridiculous get-up - Hope led them to another door that required a code to open. She pointed out the showers as they passed them.

"Everyone showers off here, before they leave. Lab clothes get thrown into that containment bin to be sterilized," she explained.

"Wait, everyone showers off here? Out in the open?" Caroline asked, glancing around the space and again noticing the drain in the middle of the room… and a lack of privacy curtains. She wanted to slap it right off of him when a smirk broke out over Klaus's features and he began shamelessly raking his eyes over her form - which was sufficiently covered by the lab coat thank you very much.

"Well we usually break it up into two groups," Hope reassured her, her eyes teasing, "Women and men go separately for everyone's comfort."

"Ah, of course…"

Klaus's gaze was still boring into her, features unabashedly amused with her. He stared at her long enough to let her know _exactly_ what he was thinking about. _Seriously?_ she wanted to shout at him. _You can't start flirting with me when you haven't even apologized for behaving like a total dick yet!_

"Shall we?" Klaus asked, gesturing back to the door. Hope punched in the code.

Their facilities were, unsurprisingly, at least as large as her own. The was more space here above ground but they'd managed to pack a surprising amount into the cave's. Caroline began walking from one end of the labs to the other checking out everything. It was mostly benign, stations set up with microscopes and other equipment. Tube after tube of blood being labeled and boxed up for analysis.

But beyond all the typical sites, Caroline spied the patients. A mix of humans and wolves alike, they were being kept individually in all-white sterile looking tile cells behind what appeared to be reinforced glass. She could tell both the wolves and humans alike were both heavily sedated. Rabid wolves, in particular, had a sense for when vampires were present and it was like throwing a hunk of meat into the water for a shark… it made them go insane. They had to keep the wolves at Chiang Mai frequently sedated for the same reason though it seemed a huge waste of resources.

"We're currently keeping a dozen wolves and three humans for research," Hope began to list of their numbers. "The humans are in varying stages of infection but the wolves are in the final stages. They're remnants of my mother's pack."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Caroline told her truthfully.

Hope nodded but continued their tour, "Alright, let me show you were we keep all the notes and how we log everything."

* * *

Elijah found Ridley wandering away from Hope's room later that day while Klaus, Caroline, and Hope were still working in the labs.

"You appear an idle mind, Miss Bennett," he called out to her.

Ridley looked up, a little surprised to be running into him. Elijah always seemed to catch her off guard, partly because she wasn't entirely sure why he seemed to be so interested in her. Kol had made it _abundantly_ clear what he was interested in but, Elijah had never been anything more than polite to her. Hope had told her he'd been turned in his late 20's, after Ridley had commented on how much older than the others he seemed but, Hope had said that was only because Elijah had been the only one to hang onto any of the old-fashioned decorum and gallantry he'd learned over the centuries.

Ridley hadn't said anything at the time because, well, she was talking about Hope's _uncle_ , here but she would be lying if she didn't find it all a bit swoon-worthy.

"I guess you could say that. Everyone's been up in the labs for a couple hours now and Vale just zoned out on something _tremendously_ boring looking in Hope's room called video games," she said.

Elijah smiled at her warmly. "Yes, well don't let Kol here you say that, I believe that is one of his favorite pastimes. Would you like to come with me, Miss Bennett? I believe I have something that may interest you."

"Sure, okay," Ridley replied. "But, please, just call me Ridley."

"Alright then… Ridley," he said.

She half expected him to offer her his arm while he lead her down the halls but he did not and she fell into step next to him.

"Caroline seems very protective over you," Elijah began, testing to see how she would respond to a personal turn in the conversation.

Ridley sighed, crossing her arms over her chest while they walked and nodded, "Yeah she doesn't let me do much of anything… sometimes I- you know what? Never mind."

Elijah almost wanted to push her to continue but didn't force the issue. Instead, all he said was, "In my memory the Bennett witches have never really been a group to sit-out an adventure."

"Yeah, maybe that's part of the problem," Ridley answered. "Caroline doesn't think of it as an adventure any more. She thinks of everything solely in terms of survival."

"I worry the same about my brother," Elijah commented. "Survival is important in our new world but there's no point to survival if-"

"-If you don't find something good to live for," Ridley finished. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"That's alright. I was going to say the same thing." He smiled.

Ridley could see he head led her to the library. Freya, as usual, had her head bent over a book to do research while she scribbled down some notes. She didn't even apparently hear them enter the room. Elijah continued to make a straight line for a very specific bookshelf. She followed him and watched as he browsed the books, many of them unmarked so she was unsure how he knew what he was looking at.

He stopped at a nondescript leather bound book that didn't look much different from any of the others.

"Here we are," he said, opening the book carefully to make sure he'd found the right one. "This is the grimoire of your ancestor... Emily Bennett."

Ridley's eyes widened in surprise. She needed a refresher course on who that was exactly but she was pretty sure she knew about the grimoire. Caroline had kept obsessive track of Bonnie's grimoires over the years but she was pretty sure the name Emily Bennett rung a bell. Hadn't that grimoire been lost for centuries?

* * *

Caroline was eager to dig in though she told them first thing that she wasn't sure Ridley would be suited for these labs. With even their notes and equipment being kept in such close proximity to infected blood and other waste, there wasn't much Caroline would have felt comfortable letting her human friend touch in here.

She was quick to rectify that this did not mean she was unimpressed with their set-up. A lot of the precautions they were taking were the same as what they'd been working with back in the caves. Nevertheless she did have suggestions but, she planned to spend a few more days working in their area to really get to know what was working well and what wasn't.

Which meant, for the several hours they'd spent in there today, Caroline was mostly pouring through their notes. They had _a lot_ of data. Even when Hope wasn't working in here - she could see from the logs that Klaus only checked in occasionally - they usually had a hybrid or two working in here daily.

Things between Klaus stayed tense but also reached a civil level. They were working, anyway, so it wasn't like there was a lot of talking. And when she did stop to ask questions, both Hope and Klaus gave her straight and thorough answers.

When she finally had read enough to feel good about what kind of overview she'd gotten for her first day up there, she leaned back to stretch.

"Well?" she asked. "Should we take lunch?"

"Oh thank god," Hope said. "I was warned you were a workhorse but I am so done being here. Do you know how rarely I have Vale over?"

The three of them rose to exit the labs and Klaus extended a hand back towards the locker room. With another knowing smirk he looked Caroline in her eyes, "Ladies first, then."

She threw him another annoyed glare, something he was quickly becoming immune to just like old times. When the door shut behind them Klaus knew he was in trouble. The door was solid, there was no way for him to see into the locker room - not that he _wanted_ to, Gods, not while Hope was in there, of course.

Nevertheless, hearing the sounds of clothes rustling and coats and goggles being tossed into the sterilization bins, Klaus could not be any more aware that, in a second, just a few feet of space and inches of metal would be separating him from Caroline while she was naked.

And then the water turned on. He muttered a strangled _fuck_ underneath his breath. They weren't really talking which was good; it allowed him the fantasy of thinking Caroline was in there alone. He still had the image of her naked firmly preserved in his memory… in part because he'd created eternal images of what she'd looked like when painting or drawing her several hundred times over afterwards. He could imagine the lines of water tracing over her creamy skin, everywhere he wanted to touch her with his fingers.

" _Uhhhh,"_ Caroline groaned out in satisfaction from the other side of the door. He couldn't help it, the sound made him hard. "We didn't have hot water in Chiang Mai."

"Are you kidding?" Hope asked. "Where do you bathe exactly."

"We have other underground pools, more shallow and significantly less terrifying than the Black Lake," Caroline answered. "A few of them have waterfalls. It's cold as hell but kind of refreshing and sometimes we make a girl's day of it."

The images she was unwittingly planting in his brain right now... Caroline, like a mystical fairy in those dark caves, standing beneath a waterfall as water cascaded down her body. Okay, _was_ she doing it unwittingly? Klaus would not be satisfied now until he got to sketch that image. Hell, he probably wouldn't be satisfied until he saw her like that in real life.

The water shut off and there were another couple minutes in mostly silence as they both redressed. Then he heard Hope holler, "It's all yours old man!"

Klaus growled, feeling the distinct urge to slap a hand across his face but resisting that urge. Instead he punched in the code to the door very much wishing that his could be a cold shower.

He was going to have to fix things with Caroline.

* * *

When Hope and Caroline rejoined the others after stopping by the lobby to find Ness and the other humans, who were quick to offer up their wrists for blood. Caroline chose to drink out a of a glass, and Hope offered her blood to both humans to heal their minor injuries. Then they mosied around searching for Ridley or Vale but, first, they ran into Klaus again. He was looking for them in agitation.

"Were we supposed to wait for you for lunch?" Hope asked, noticing his mood. He'd been fine while they were researching. Maybe a little _delusional,_ acting like the fight hadn't happened, but he wasn't raging anymore. What had gone wrong now?

"No, it's fine, I've just been looking for you," he replied. "Caroline, may I speak with you?"

Caroline glanced helplessly to Hope who put her hands up to signal she was staying out of this. "I'm gonna check for Ridley and Vale in my room and then the library…" she said before stalking off to leave Klaus standing alone with Caroline in the lobby.

"Well?" she asked, already looking impatient.

"Look, love, I just wanted to apologize for last night," he said.

She waited, expecting more than that.

"First of all I'm sorry I tried to tell you that you wouldn't be going back without me," he said, knowing this was a blatant lie but also that he was going to have to let her do what she wanted if there was any chance at this working. He didn't keep Hope on complete lockdown, after all, and it was part of the reason their relationship flourished. "It was a reaction in the heat of the moment and I regret saying it."

Her eyes softened infinitesimally and she actually uncrossed her arms from her chest.

"Okay," Caroline said. "Thank you telling me that."

"And I'm sorry about what happened out there. I should have known better than to bring you into a situation anyone could have warned me would be hostile… Hope tried to, I suppose," Klaus continued. "The truth is Caroline that now that you're here I can barely stand the thought of being apart from you."

That statement literally took Caroline's breath away and she had to suppress a gasp. She made a motion to step back from him but Klaus quickly grabbed her hands in his own, holding her tenderly.

"You don't have to say anything," Klaus told her. "I just want to be honest with you, Caroline. And sometimes that's not terribly easy for me but… I want to, with you."

She blinked up at him literally stunned into silence for a few second before choking out a stuttered "O-okay." Then she regained her composure a bit. "Thank you, Klaus, I appreciate that. I'll be honest with you too."

"Good, and perhaps later you could start with a suggestion for my next move with the vampires at The Waste?" Klaus suggested, hopefully.

Jesus, he was just surprising her at every turn. "My advice? I thought-"

"Forget last night Caroline, of course I want your opinion," he said. "Hope has been begging me for years to help The Waste. And I certainly don't plan to keep antagonizing them while your safety or my daughter's might be in danger."

Caroline nodded. Okay so it wasn't the most perfect response in the world… he was only ending the reign of terror for selfish reasons but, for Klaus that was still a huge step. As long as this was legitimate… which she didn't trust for a second it was.

"Alright, I'll help you," Caroline agreed. He could see the suspicion returning to her eyes and he did the only thing he could think of to snuff it out. He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, in the exact same spot he had the previous evening.

It sent a shockwave through Caroline straight through her like she'd been hit by lightening and momentarily rooted to the ground. Momentarily it flashed through her brain that she'd never had _that_ talk with him, the one she wanted to have because of problematic moments exactly like _this._ But before she could say anything, he was pulling back and dropping her hands, and smirking at her so fucking smugly.

"Thank you, love. Now, I think I'll go check the library for our daughters," he said.

She stared hopelessly at his retreating back, _still_ feeling glued to the spot and also like her jaw might be hanging open a little bit.

 _Get it together, Caroline!_ Maybe Ridley was right. Maybe four years had just been too long to go without… well, at the very least hooking up with someone. Especially right before she moved in with Klaus Mikaelson for 6 months. _Hell,_ she'd forgotten how handsome he was.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. Klaus had been a _frequent_ star in her hottest fantasies when she needed to get herself off. It was easy to zone out in the darkness of the cave's… to begin to see images appear before you like phantoms in the night. You would actually begin to hallucinate to an extent. There had been times where she'd round a bend cautiously in the darkness only to see him appear before her so suddenly she'd almost be frightened. But the look in his eyes was always the same: _lust._

But her most wicked fantasies couldn't hold a candle to the real-life manifestation. In particular, the way he looked at her in real was _far_ more intimidatingly passionate then what she'd conjured up in her head. And it held a whole lot more than just lust.

Caroline shook herself out it. Behind her in the lobby she heard someone snickering and whirled around to see Ness passing through clearly having witnessed at least _most_ of that. Caroline growled in frustration and stormed after Klaus.

He'd gotten to the library much quicker than she. Caroline could hear his voice echoing down the hall.

"My god, I had completely forgotten we found that," Klaus was murmuring. "And right after we discussed the Triplets and everything."

Caroline sped into the room at that to see what was up. The first thing she noticed was Ridley leaning over a grimoire with Elijah. They were sitting far too close together for her liking, the sides of their legs pressed almost entirely against one another while they leaned over the book.

Vale and Hope were crowded behind them with Freya sitting nearby to look on with a mild amount of interest.

"What is that?" Caroline snapped.

At the harsh tone, Elijah and Ridley abruptly parted like something had shocked them. Did these Mikaelson brothers need to be explicitly told to cool it with Ridley. In the same second, Caroline felt guilty. Ridley, her daughter or not, was a grown woman at 24, very nearly 25. She could make her own choices and she'd always been more sexually active than Caroline had. Caroline had been too busy for romance. What was it about the Mikaelson brothers that hit her particularly unfavorably?

 _Because you know how dangerous they are._ And, _what if they want to turn her?_

"Caroline, if we'd remembered this sooner I would have brought it to your attention immediately," Elijah began.

"It's Emily Bennett's grimoire…" Ridley breathed out next.

Again that day, Caroline's breath was stolen from her.

"But that was lost with Bonnie's grandsons… the triplets…" she said. She couldn't believe what she was looking at.

* * *

 **Back to back updates whaaaaat? This one was kind of a mini-update and I did it because it's 10/10 which means it's Caroline's birthday! I mean, to** _ **really**_ **celebrate her birthday, I should probably be updating** _ **The Mikaelsons.**_ **No promises but I'm on a writing kick after a night with zero-sleep while I still feel wired as hell so let's see what I can make happen. Reviews are fuel!**


	15. The Triple Conjunction

" _Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future," - Oscar Wilde_

 _ **15**_

 _ **The Triple Conjunction**_

* * *

Ridley _had_ needed a refresher course on Emily Bennett given the fact that they were five more generations further apart than Bonnie and Emily had been. By the time Caroline had arrived to the library after Klaus, though, Elijah and the rest had already given her a fairly good summary. For argument's sake, Caroline checked in on what they'd gone over — that she was one of the most powerful in the Bennett line, capable of inventing unimaginably impossible contraptions like a compass that could sense vampires present, and the handmaiden of the most ruthless of the Petrova doppelgangers.

Even Ridley was well acquainted with the doppelganger drama, particularly given the fact that Caroline's ex-husband had been perpetually heartsick over one of them. Though, to Ridley's knowledge, that had never been any skin-off of Caroline's romantically- _un_ interested nose and didn't interfere with the nature of their marriage of convenience. Nevertheless, because of Damon and by extension Elena, not to mention Caroline and Great-Grandma Bonnie's friendship with her, Ridley was well acquainted with all the stories. Katherine Pierce, out of all the doppelgangers, had actually occupied a kind of legendary status in her mind growing up: the formidable woman who'd _turned_ Caroline, cared nothing for her own descendants, stole hearts like marking notches into a bedpost, and ultimately betrayed Emily Bennett herself. It was one hell of a story.

The book was opened to a page Caroline recognized well: the spell for daylight amulets. It was a spell that was once a terrible thing to have lost but, after relocating to the caves, she hadn't needed it in a long time. It was also a relatively easy spell; Caroline remembered it being one of the first Bonnie had learned, all things considered in the scheme of her long life. Eventually she'd gotten so good at it, it took her less than a minute to complete. Seeing this, accompanied by Ridley's synopsis of what they'd just gone over, was enough to assure Caroline that she didn't need to fill in any blanks.

Instead, she was able to focus on the more pressing issue at hand.

"When, where, and _how_ did you find this?" she asked, still breathless at the sight of it. She couldn't help but reach out and pick it up to inspect it. As if she'd even really be able to tell… she was no witch. If anything, only Ridley would be able to sense something but Ridley was _barely_ in touch with her magic.

She glanced up to Ridley to see if she could identify any change within her or any sense of emotion since they'd taken out the grimoire but Caroline didn't see anything different. On the positive side, surrounded by the most ancient vampires in existence and hybrids to boot, Ridley was showing the most interest she had in her family history or witchcraft than she had probably ever. Caroline would have been lying if she said that it didn't hurt that these older and, apparently, _cooler_ vamps were having far more success than she ever had been but… Hey, whatever worked, worked. Caroline wouldn't complain. _Much._

Elijah started to answer her but Klaus cut him off first.

"Why don't we start properly?" he asked slyly, "At the beginning. When, where, and _how_ did you lose it, love?"

"I told you," Caroline snapped, annoyed. "The last people in possession of it were the Bennett Warlocks. I think, of the three, Soren usually held onto it. But when they disappeared in the first war it was lost with them."

"That would have been… 2070?" Freya asked from her chair at the table.

Caroline did some quick math and nodded in confirmation. She wasn't exactly sure how Freya any of that information but, considering the legendary status the Warlock Triplets had gained over the years, it wasn't terribly surprising that Freya knew the year they disappeared.

"And where exactly, did you lose them during the Territory Wars?" Klaus asked.

"Why don't you tell me where you found the grimoire first?" Caroline asked, her tone harsh and unrelenting.

"I promise there's enough of my more honorable family present to confirm whether or not I'm lying, love," Klaus pressed again. "I'd like to know exactly how far this book traveled when it fell into our path."

It was ridiculous battle, the only purpose of which was to see who would ultimately bend to the other's will. Everyone was surprised, particularly Klaus, when Caroline was the first to give in.

"Fine," she agreed, ultimately accepting that it made more sense to track the history of the lost grimoire from the moment it went missing. "When the first war started I was only seeing Bonnie and her family intermittently. I was still pretty deeply involved with the Return to Eden Project at that point and it ate up a lot of my time."

The half of the story that Caroline was prepared to omit for the time being was that, in 2070, she and Damon were only five years out from leaving the return to Eden Project, which was the whole reason they got married in the first place. Partly, this was due to the fact that Bonnie was getting much older. She was 78, a grandmother and great-grandmother. It was only a matter of time before they both knew that Damon would be leaving her for Elena. They both had always known the time would come and since their marital alliance had never catalyzed feeling beyond those of good friendship and partnership, Caroline harbored no ill feelings. Marriage was hard, Caroline had learned, regardless of weather it was a marriage born from love or convenience or political reasons.

"I had just finished up a mission in Warsaw where I was targeting a US Ambassador. His visit was to discuss the relocation effort of Scandinavian refugees after most of the countries of Norway, Sweden, and Finland had begun to float over with the first meltings of the polar ice caps," Caroline began. "This was before the flooding had made it as far as the northern tips of the UK or Ireland. Anyway, long story short the same ambassador was from a family in Big Oil that had recently lobbied in Congress to expand a pipeline in the Indian Ocean and we were tasked with an assassination attempt to send a message."

"And where was Bonnie and her family during this time?" Kol asked.

"They were living in Belarus," Caroline said and paused for that to sink in.

Everyone's expressions when slack at that note. It was well known that the First Territory Wars had started in Europe, specifically Belarus. In the diplomatic struggle to decide who would be accepting refugees from the flooded Scandinavian countries, war ended up breaking out. C-Flu had reached worldwide pandemic status just a year before and although the people of the flooded countries around the world had nowhere else to go, panic over the disease was still so heightened that ultimately no country was willing to accept new immigrants.

The surging populations of displaced people in combination with rapidly disappearing shorelines and uninfected areas brought the world to a state of previously unimagined panic. Countries began pushing on each other, desperate to snatch up any safe room left for their own people. It started with small attacks at the borders of Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania but quickly spread out into the rest of Europe and even the edges of Russia and Eurasia. And, of course, it was only a matter of time before nukes were brought out.

"What was she doing in Belarus?" Elijah asked.

"You have to remember," Caroline said, "The first war came as a total shock to all of us. Until the attack started in Belarus, the only media coverage anyone saw was about how successful the talks between International diplomats were going in the refugee effort. Belarus was actually one of the few country is least affected by the disease, at the time anyway."

"And so you reconnected with Bonnie after leaving Poland?" Klaus asked.

Caroline nodded in confirmation, "At first we were just going to visit but, on our trip over we were following tanks sent from Poland to the border. We knew it was going to be bad and we just wanted to arrive in time to warn Bonnie and help them escape."

Hope noticed Caroline slipping from her usage of "I" to "we" in the story at the same moment her father did and began to stalk to the far side of the table angrily. She tried to deflect his attention by just pushing through the story.

"But clearly that didn't happen," Hope commented while Caroline continued.

"Bonnie was more than prepared to leave the country with the whole family but her son Asher and her grandsons — Soren, Quint, and Draime — all wanted to stay and fight," Caroline explained. "The Triplets grew up in Belarus, it was their home. It was one of the few places left mostly untouched by the disease or even the floods. None of them wanted to leave that for the rest of the world which was rapidly dissolving… So ultimately, we stuck around to help see them through it."

"So what happened when Poland invaded?" Vale asked, intrigued. He hadn't even been born during the time of the First Territory Wars and it was well known to be the last "modern" war in history — the last war to use weapons of mass destruction or even national militaries anymore.

"The Bennett family tried to work together to create a protection spell for their home first," Caroline replied, "But there was only so much they could do to protect themselves once troops arrived. They used magic to fight a lot of them off but… the force of the attack was honestly staggering. We lost Asher and his wife first, shot straight through their foreheads one right after the other by a Polish sniper while he was performing a spell to dismantle several of their tanks."

Caroline took a moment to pause here; she hadn't relived these memories in a long time. The Territory Wars had been terrifying, even for a vampire. Supernatural beings had become common knowledge back in the 2040's just a few years after the disease first broke out and it became very quickly apparent that there was a large community of people completely immune to it. Thus, new military weapons contained everything necessary to kill vamps, wolves, and witches alike. When a bomb went off during the territory wars it was more than just a threat to humans… they always contained vervain and wolfsbane alike.

"The Triplets were distraught over the loss of their parents, particularly Draime," Caroline said. "Honestly I think he had a bit of a nervous breakdown over it-"

"-Wait a minute," Elijah interrupted, as if he was putting some things together as she told the story. "The first attacks on Belarus, those were at the end of the year, correct?"

"It was December, yes," she replied.

"And wasn't that the same time that the first battles were briefly interrupted by another natural disaster in Europe?" Elijah asked. "Hurricane Pollux I believe it was called?"

Caroline nodded grimly, "Yeah except that hurricane isn't exactly what we'd call _natural…"_ she trailed off for a moment. "When Draime began to go steadily more and more depressed with the loss of his father, something started to become clear to Bonnie. She realized that Draime had been practicing Expression for years. And when we asked the other two brothers if they knew… they admitted they'd both tried the practice as well."

No one looked particularly shocked at this revelation and she realized that the legendary power of the Triplets — anyone other witch that had ever encountered them had been able to sense the incredible power linked between the three of them and rumors of it spread quickly — preceded them so much that the finer details of their tale were hardly surprising.

"That's when we lost them," Caroline said. "I guess after we confronted Draime's brothers — Soren and Quint — they told Draime we'd figured it out and they all decided to leave together. Draime had been talking for weeks since his father's death about channeling the power of an impending astrological event — the Triple Conjunction of Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter — to get revenge on the Polish military responsible for his parents' death."

She noticed something flash in Freya's eyes at the mention of the planetary Triple Conjunction but the witch made no motion to stop her or interrupt so Caroline finished. She did _not_ notice, when Hope exchanged a glance with her aunt to confirm something they had both just realized.

"After they ran off… we're pretty sure they used the Triple Conjunction to summon a hurricane just large enough to hit Poland and some neighboring nations to the east but still miss Belarus. There was nothing about that hurricane that was normal. Anyway, the only grimoire they'd had with them at the time was Draime's personal grimoire — probably full of notes on Expression — and Emily Bennett's. We searched all over Belarus, Poland, and much of the rest of Europe for them but we never found a trace of them again."

They all took a second to sit-back and take in that whirlwind of a story. Ridley had heard it more times than she could count but even she got confused about all of the details. The time when the triplets were alive was when the Bennett coven had been the largest it had ever been in years — four generations of the family all living together under one room and, honestly, too many names for her to remember. Caroline always told her that if she started practicing her magic more often — actually began studying and working the grimoires — it would begin to click and fall into place.

They still had most of the Bennett Grimoires actually — Abby's, Bonnie's, Asher's, Eve's, etc. They even had the other two triplets' personal grimoires as Bonnie had encouraged all of her descendants to create one for themselves. The only two that had been missing were Emily's and Draime's. And now, there was officially only one missing.

"Alright," Caroline finally spoke up again, interrupting everyone's thoughts and turning back to Klaus, "So when and where did this turn up?" She gestured again towards Emily's grimoire which she'd put back onto the table in front of Ridley, who was flipping through the pages with more reverence than she'd ever seen.

"There does look like there's been some water damage," Ridley interrupted before Klaus could speak.

"Likely from the hurricane they caused, I'd expect," Klaus said with certainty. "We, of course, didn't find the grimoire even remotely near a site of water. Nor in Europe where it was lost. It turned up in our hands 20 years later in Boise, Idaho."

" _Idaho?"_ Caroline and Ridley both exclaimed in unison. _Of all the random places…_

"Well the coven we took it from told us it had turned up the same year you lost it, in 2070, but not in Boise. Outside of Portland," Klaus said.

Caroline's face blanched at the mention of that particular city. There had only ever been one coven she'd known from Portland…

"Portland, Maine?" she asked, hopefully.

"No, Oregon," Elijah confirmed. "Called the Cojoc Coven. We never uncovered any connection to the Bennett family and they had, apparently, never even heard of them."

 _Ok, so at least they weren't dealing with any further Gemini connections here,_ Caroline consoled herself. In that case, the grimoire popping up in Portland was every bit as random as Boise. It _was_ interesting to know that it had turned up to another coven in the same year it had disappeared, though.

"Portland or Boise it just doesn't make any sense…" Caroline continued, her brow furrowed.

"You said they didn't know who the Bennett family was," Ridley suggested. "Did they just not know its value?"

Elijah looked at her with a clear expression of admiration, impressed by the suggestion but Freya answered first.

"They _definitely_ didn't realize it's value," Freya explained.

"But witches don't make a habit of freely giving away grimoires in their collection. And even if they didn't know of your family's coven, they would still have been able to sense it was very powerful," Hope added from her seat next to Vale.

They explained it in a way that suggested, to Caroline at least, they were already making an effort to pick up Ridley as a pupil.

"So you took it?" Caroline asked, blankly and without reservation.

Klaus smirked at her, crossing his arms as he casually leaned against the table where the books were spread out, "Do you _still_ think so low of me?"

Caroline rolled his eyes but couldn't help but grin back at him. He was joking with her, obviously knowing full well that she would still think him capable of stealing a single grimoire after what had happened at The Waste. They had _just_ called a truce, though, and she wasn't about to meanly rub it in his face again just to start a fight.

"Let's just say I feel like I have a pretty good intuition about how you tend to act in these situations," Caroline put it delicately.

When her pretty eyes flashed down to the floor to cheekily avoid his own stare, her eyelashes fluttering as she did, Klaus couldn't help but chuckle. Was she _flirting_ with him now? _Did she even realize she was doing it_ , was probably a better question.

As Caroline raised her head, Ridley shot her an extremely knowing look that made her cheeks flush instantly. Klaus obviously noticed too because he didn't remove his heated gaze from her but Caroline refused to acknowledge the feeling that had just passed between them. It was easy enough to move on, though, when Ridley cocked a challenging brow back at Caroline and seemed to move infinitesimally closer back to Elijah, like she had been when Caroline had first found them bent over Emily's spell-book together.

She was about to shoot her friend a glare — _hey,_ I _have history with Klaus;_ you _do not with Elijah_ — but Freya was apparently annoyed with the whole silent show and interrupted once again.

"We had been in Boise looking for yet another place to relocate and weather out the collapse of the world; Vegas wasn't an option quite yet," Freya said. "Anyway, when we got to the city we quickly learned of a small coven, just four members, one of whom had the power of foresight."

"We went to make an alliance with them," Elijah explained. "A coven of just four members had very little chance to survive at the time. We could offer them protection, their youngest witch could offer us knowledge of the future."

"They were on board with our offer immediately," Hope said. "They had seen so much of their coven taken down by the disease… well, the offer of living with us both for protection and to use our blood to keep from contracting the disease have both been pretty powerful motivators for the past 200 years."

"Until we found you again, that is, sweetheart," Klaus said to Caroline, _overtly_ flirty this time but, before she could even shoot him a look telling him to cool it, he added, "Anyway, that's when we found the grimoire."

"But we only got part of the story out of them before we lost them," Elijah said. "The last four members of the Cojoc coven were slaughtered by rabid wolves before we ever got the full story on how they found it."

"Well, what _did_ you find out?" Caroline asked.

"They found it while passing through the woods on the outskirts of Portland on foot. They said it was surrounded by heavy cloaking spells and they never would have noticed it if their youngest daughter hadn't been able to sense its presence," Klaus said. "They told us that she had a vision when first encountering the book, a premonition and a sense of something else…"

"And it was _literally_ right then that we found out a pack of rabid wolves was approaching Boise," Hope told her last. "We had to get out immediately, planning to hear the rest of it later. But in the process of packing their collection of grimoires and fleeing the city… the wolves tore them all to shreds."

Caroline and Ridley both shuddered at the end of the story. Even if those witches had been given blood to protect them from the disease or a rabid bite… if a pack of wolves decided to tear you to shreds there were few creatures capable of surviving that. From the tone of Hope's voice and the somber looks on both Freya and Elijah's faces, that was _exactly_ what had happened.

"Obviously we tried to track down more information over the years," Klaus said quietly, almost respectfully. "We found out everything we could about the Cojoc coven… we _still_ have all their grimoires. But, other than having one extraordinarily powerful but young and inexperienced daughter, it appears there really was no link between their family and the Bennett coven. We believe they found it on an accident and thus, so did we."

Letting out a breathy noise of faux-exhaustion at the end of the tale, Caroline leaned across the table to get another look at the grimoire. Even Ridley was slumping back in her chair like the information was all just a bit too much to process. But Caroline could tell she had been listening more attentively than she ever had about stories of her family's history before.

"Well, thank you for telling me," Caroline said, finally. She couldn't, of course, be _sure_ that they were telling her the truth but Klaus seemed to be making such a genuine effort to tell her everything as long as she opened up to him in return…

"Of course, love," Klaus said. "Now that I know you've been a mother to Bonnie's children all these years… it's your right. And the grimoire belongs to you and Ridley, of course."

Everyone jerked in some form of surprised reaction at that but stayed utterly _silent,_ waiting to see if Caroline would recognize what a huge gesture this was for someone like Klaus.

"Klaus… thank you-"

"There's no need," he said, waving her off, though a _clearly_ delighted smile was plastered to his face now that he realized his actions had surprised her yet again. "Like I said, it's yours."

"Thank you anyway," Ridley said in place of a still stunned Caroline.

"You're welcome," Klaus answered graciously. "Now why don't you take a seat, Caroline? I know you're dying to get a good long look at the thing for yourself..."

* * *

Later that day, Hope and Vale finally had a chance to sneak away from their visitors and all the hubbub. Vale was so rarely ever at The Luxor because she'd been actively keeping their relationship a secret from her father for years — albeit apparently unsuccessfully — though she had believed that she typically managed to sneak him in to stay over once a month or so. _Of course that had been delusional._

Either way, Hope wanted to take advantage of the situation available to her now. Everyone was sufficiently distracted by Emily's grimoire and Klaus was doubly distracted by Caroline's presence. So, after the two of them had snuck off, Hope promptly directed them towards her bedroom, locked the doors, pumped up some music so no one would question her about cloaking or silencing spells if they walked past, and dashed up to her bed.

"I feel like we haven't gotten to do this in _forever_ ," Hope groaned, pulling him into her by the collar of his shirt and stealing a kiss. Vale didn't break their embrace for a second and pushed her back into the wall of her bedroom next to the bed.

"It has been _much_ too long for my liking," he murmured against her lips and Hope sighed at the sound of his voice. That was the only bad part about kissing him, it meant he couldn't be whispering sweet nothing into her ear in that _ridiculously sexy_ Irish accent — all lilting and teasing nuances to the way he said things. Just thinking about it, Hope unconsciously reached her hands up to thread through his soft red hair.

At her touch, Vale was the next one to moan but before she could reach down to begin unbuttoning his shirt a sharp wrapping at the door. They both broke their kiss with an annoyed groan at the sound.

"Ignore it," Vale pleaded after a moment without another interruption.

Hope was game for that plan and she lowered her fangs, planning to stop wasting time and drink from him, knowing full well there was no other move that made him insanely needy for her more quickly. At the site of her hybrid fangs appearing, she could see Vale's eyes cloud over with something almost more akin to enchantment than lust. The darkened veins beneath his eyes made their own appearance next.

But then…. _knock, knock,_ _ **KNOCK.**_ Much more insistent this time. Just _rude,_ really.

"One second! God!" Hope hollered down the stairs in her room to the door.

Vale lowered his forehead to hers, resignedly. She placed one last short kiss to his lips before speeding down her stairs with him close behind. Luckily, when she answered the door, it was just Freya.

"You're lucky your father is so distracted…" Freya murmured, first thing as she eyes Vale warily behind her niece. Vale rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably under her highly critical gaze.

"Okay, what's up?" Hope asked with impatience.

"Caroline wants to set up another time to go back to The Waste. She wants to radio out to them," Freya said. "Obviously you two about the only ones they're going to answer when we put through the call right now."

Hope rolled her eyes. The sooner they went back, the sooner Vale was no longer sleeping over.

"Alright, come on," she motioned to Vale, "This should be quick. I _hope._ " The sooner they got done making a radio call, the sooner they could get back to where they'd left off.

* * *

Klaus was standing uncomfortably with Caroline outside their air control room where they kept all of their radio equipment. Hope and Vale had made a case for going in first to start the radio call and even get anyone out at The Waste to pick up, leaving Klaus an Caroline standing out alone together in one of the hotel's many identical and endless halls. They had been standing there making awkward small talk for about 25 minutes. _Not a good sign._

Well, it had been awkward for Caroline at least. Klaus was smugly edging ever and ever closer to her with each passing benign exchange — first still about the grimoire, then about her checking in with Chiang Mai, then about how she was liking it here. They both cautiously danced around the issue of her impending talk with Ezra at The Waste given that Klaus had _just_ agreed to let her go back on her own to see their facilities. But Caroline gathered that, in part, the reason he was avoiding the touchy subject with her was because she hadn't yet shut down his flirting.

"Anyway, I'll need to have some of our stuff sent over from Chiang Mai," Caroline said, dodging an attempt from Klaus to get a foot or so closer to her by casually leaning against the opposite wall, as if she were just shifting her weight.

"Of course," he replied, just as casually re-positioning himself right beside her again. "If you'd like, I can send one of our aircrafts to pick up your things, if you don't want to waste your city's fuel supply."

 _Why am I not putting a stop to this?_ she wondered to herself as he reached out to push a hair out of her face and behind her ear. When men had made moves on her any other time when she wanted to focus on work, Caroline had never had a problem telling them when to shove off. And she'd internally debated with herself about having a more polite version of that exact discussion several times now but… _But maybe you don't want him to stop._

Caroline thought back to earlier in the lobby and how his touch had left her rooted to the spot. Then she thought about Ridley had told her and how right the girl probably was. _Four years was a long time to go without getting laid._ But with Klaus it wasn't like she had the option of a fling or even a one-night stand. No, if she gave into him, he'd expect it to be forever. And that terrified her.

"That would be really nice, I would appreciate that," she finally murmured out to his reply.

"Anything for you," he whispered lowly back, taking yet another step forward to begin outright encroaching on her personal space.

He was leaning forward. His eyes were darting down to her lips and his tongue flashed between his. _God,_ Caroline swore she felt herself melt like honey at the sight. He was reaching out a hand to cup her cheek now. _Fuck he was going to kiss her._

"Klaus, I-"

"Shh, Caroline," he interrupted, bending his head to her so close now their noses were almost touching. His eyes were hooded with desire as he continued to gaze at her when he said, "You're _so beautiful._ How is it possible for you to be so much _more_ than what I remember?"

A door opening had Caroline snapping backwards. Vale popped his head out of the door, not quite catching them in anything but still obviously sensing the tension in the air enough to feel a bit awkward.

"Uh, sorry… I, uh, Caroline? They're ready to talk to you," Vale said.

With a blush on her cheeks, Caroline brushed past Klaus in a rush, sensing his hot glare fixed on Vale behind her. But soon enough she heard his footsteps trailing after her into the room.

Hope was waiting at a radio control with maybe half a dozen sets of headpieces and mics. Vale waved her over, gesturing to a seat and handing her a headset. Klaus lingered behind in the room, watching the scene unfold from a chair in the opposite corner.

"Caroline Forbes, I'm on the line, over," Caroline said into her mic.

" _So, I understand you'd like to come back to our part of town,"_ Ezra's distinct voice rang out next.

"That's correct, that _is_ why I was invited here, isn't it?" Caroline asked.

" _Sure, but then you ended up living with Klaus Mikaelson and bringing him to our home uninvited. Hope has been trying to convince us we can trust you for almost half an hour now. What do you have to say about it?"_ Ezra returned.

Caroline sighed. She had known this would be an uphill battle. "Look, first of all, I can assure you that Klaus won't be returning with us unless you specifically allow it-"

" _Like that would ever happen in all of Hell,"_ Ezra laughed back over the radio.

Wow, this resentment ran deep. Perhaps even deeper than it had run for the old gang in Mystic Falls back in the day. "Second of all… I believe Klaus may want to make amends…" Caroline trailed off. It was probably too earlier for her to be saying that. He'd only vaguely suggested the possibility in the lobby earlier.

She glanced back towards where she knew he was silently listening but his features betrayed no emotion. Nevertheless, Caroline knew to tread carefully.

" _Amends?"_ Ezra balked on the other end of the line. " _How could that monster possibly make amends?"_

Hope winced, practically able to hear her father grinding his jaw in anger behind them.

"Look, I'll be here to help," Caroline assured her. "I know you've been talking to Ko at the Chiang Mai base for long enough to know that I've been behind a lot of the diplomatic deals between bases overseas to keep everyone working together. If you don't trust Klaus's judgement, trust mine."

The other end of the line was silent for a moment and Hope double checked all their signals to make sure the transmission was still coming through which it appeared to be.

"Ezra?" Hope called out. "Are you still there? Over."

" _Yeah, yeah, we're still here…"_ Ezra replied before seemingly changing the conversation. " _Caroline, Ko also told us that you'd been involved in shutting down farms."_

Caroline sighed into her headset. Those weren't pleasant memories. "I shut down the first farm for human blood I found in 2090," she confirmed. "Since then I've shut down close to a dozen, all over the world. Three of them were factory farms."

" _Look, if you'll tell us what you want to set up a time to come talk to us about your experiences shutting down farms… we'll consider inviting you back to see the labs,"_ Ezra bargained.

"Well, as long as you're not planning to use this information to start a farm-"

" _Of course not!"_ Ezra snapped over the radio and even Hope looked personally affronted seated next to her.

"Alright, then how about tomorrow?" Caroline asked.

" _That sounds fine, we'll expect to see you in the early evening again, around dusk. Over and out,"_ Ezra responded.

"Over and out," Hope and Caroline replied in unison, shutting off the radio then. Caroline let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Well, I think that went as just about as well as could be expected, right?" Caroline asked Hope once the radio was firmly off.

Klaus interrupted before Hope could respond, "Love, I know I requested your advice on what to do with The Waste but… did I incorrectly assume I would be receiving that advice _before_ you spoke to anyone there?"

Hope knew well from experience that Klaus was doing about the most he possibly could to keep his enraged tone under control without losing his shit and freaking out. Apparently Caroline could tell too because she winced at the sound of his voice.

"Look, I did tell them I thought you wanted to make amends but that was _all_. And they didn't even seem particularly interested," she started but Klaus didn't look at all placated. "Okay, how about if I go out there tomorrow just to scout out possibilities of _how_ you could fix things with them? I won't mention anything else."

Klaus inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, almost as if he was doing a breathing exercise to calm himself down. The thought almost made Caroline laugh aloud. But finally he answered, after taking a long pause to consider what she was saying.

"Alright, love, I'll give you this chance but, I'm trusting you," he said. "I've worked hard to establish what I have built here. It's taken me a long time to ensure my family's safety. I'm trusting you not to threaten what I have built."

"Of course," Caroline responded. "I would never do anything to threaten your family's safety, I promise. And your trust in me means a lot. I know from experience you don't give it easily."

Klaus could not help how his posture relaxed immediately, upon hearing her words. He nodded in a vague sort of consent then, which allowed Caroline to return to looking at Hope. She had just realized something awful. Within the few short days she had been there, she still had not called back to Chiang Mai.

"How far does this radio call out?" Caroline asked.

"Its hooked up our own makeshift satellite we sent out years ago," Hope said. "We've had to send up a few new ones over the years but, this one has been working well for over a decade now. It should be able to reach anywhere you want. Freya mentioned you were hoping to call Chiang Mai?"

"Yes," Caroline responded, "I realized I've been here for a couple of days now and I still haven't called back home. That was one of the conditions of my stay here: I planned to keep in touch with Chiang Mai. And after the mess I just left with the wolves, I honestly can't believe I didn't call back the moment I arrived here. I guess I just got so distracted… I haven't been back to the States for so many years, and then your dad threw that big party… Anyway, I need to check in with them now, it's been too long."

"Ok sure, I understand we'll get them on the radio now," Hope said. "Are you sure it's the right time of day there?"

"It doesn't matter," Caroline said. "Our sleep cycles are so irregular down there, that were all up at all sorts of different hours. and there's always someone at the radio tower, just in case. Whomever is stationed there now will be able to fetch Ko or Hayato no matter what time it is. I forget exactly what the time difference is between Chiang Mai and Vegas."

"It's more than a day," Hope said. " But I'm sure that you're right. Someone will be there to answer our call."

Klaus took a step back to the other side of the room again, respecting Caroline's right to speak privately with her own base. Nevertheless, he wouldn't stray too far to be unable to listen in on the conversation. He still felt somewhat responsible for taking her away from her home. if anything went wrong in her absence, Klaus would feel infinitely responsible. He was the one that had taken her away after all.

"Vegas to Chiang Mai, Vegas to Chiang Mai, over. This is Hope Mikaelson and Caroline Forbes attempting to reach the Chiang Mai base, over," Hope began. " Do you read me? Over."

At first it was pure static. But then, a very difficult understand boys began to make itself clear.

" _This is Chiang Mai to Las Vegas, over,"_ a male voice said. " _This is Hayato, Caroline you're there? Over."_

"Hayato! It's me, it's Caroline!" the blonde cried back in an ecstatic tone.

And all at once, Klaus found a whole new thing to be angry about and make him fret.

* * *

 _ **Hey guys, sorry again about the delay. I mentioned in an update from one of my other fics (probably too long ago to count) that I've been having some personal problems. They were of the medical variety and lasted pretty much all of last month and are only starting to clear up just now. But luckily I seem to be out of the sleep-all-the-time phase and hope to get back on track. Probably updated next will be Wrecked, cause the second chapter of that has been half finished for awhile.**_

 _ **Someone reviewed in another fic, (I think CKHybrid?) that they realized I hadn't brought up Marcel and Davina in this fic yet. Rest assured that every character that needs some sort of conclusion from the show will get a conclusion and many more will be reappearing in both small and large capacities. Only characters not included are the new ones introduced in the current seasons or any they shove in to enrage us going forward (TVD 7 and TO 3).**_

 _ **Going to try to take a bit of a break from backstory in this fic for at least a chapter or two, though, to focus on progressing forward with Klaus and Caroline's future together. Crazy stuff is gonna start happening.**_


	16. Black Blizzard

_**A/N: Raksha mentioned in their review that they'd appreciate a summary of the whole Bennett-grimoire-Triplets theory the next time I updated. Given how long and winding (and still very unfinished) that story was while being told almost solely through dialogue… I thought that was a great idea! It'll be in the end notes.**_

* * *

" _He wants to send you drawings. Drawings of men with faithful hands, they'll make such good boyfriends. He wants to tell you stories. Stories of boys who stomp their feet saying 'Shut, shut up I'm dreaming of places where lovers have wings,'" -_ Shut Up I Am Dreaming, _Sunset Rubdown_

* * *

 _ **16**_

 _ **Black Blizzard**_

* * *

After ending the radio conversation with Chiang Mai, Caroline found herself being led to Klaus's "wing" of the Luxor. From what she'd seen of their home so far, one face of the pyramid was mostly monopolized almost solely by the girls; even the extravagant guest quarters that Klaus had set up for herself and Ridley were located on the pyramid's east face and they knew Hope's room was somewhere a few floors above them, as well as Rebekah's and Freya's. Klaus was directing her towards the west face of the pyramid, though, and by far the most isolated section of the hotel.

They had to take the elevator very nearly to the top, to what was clearly the main luxury suite of the hotel before making it to the pyramid's pinnacle where repairs could be made on it's blinding beacon. Hope and Vale had separated from them to pack up for Vale's trip back home the next day and Caroline had agreed to join Klaus for preparative talks since he had reaffirmed his promise to let her make the trip with Vale and Hope alone. Ridley would be joining them since, Hope had informed her they would almost certainly not be invited back to the labs today and she had a feeling Ezra would be conducting this as a diplomatic meeting.

Right now, though, Caroline was awash in her own thoughts about Chiang Mai. Unequivocally, the most important thing was that the situation with the wolves was momentarily contained. Ko's prediction had been correct. Caroline's leaving the city had been the wolves' main goal and, once accomplished, they retreated deeper into the caves, doubtless to plot their next move. While Klaus was still astounded that the Chiang Mai wolves had plotted _anything,_ Caroline felt reassured that their mental capabilities hadn't further evolved to be capable of planning an entire _series_ of attacks quite yet.

Mostly, though, she was kicking herself for how long it'd taken her to check in with them. There'd almost been over a dozen casualties from the wolves' attack the night they left for Vegas. Hell, the only reason, there _hadn't_ been casualties was because of her deal with Klaus and the fact that his blood had been on hand to cure the wounded.

Speaking of Klaus, he was leaning against the opposite wall of the elevator, eyeing her shamelessly as she continued to zone out to her own thoughts. Caroline wasn't an idiot and she'd noticed the way Klaus had watched her like a hawk when she spoke with Hayato… trying to read her face for every emotion. She wasn't sure _why_ but she'd been careful to keep her face schooled into a completely neutral expression and used an even tone. She didn't want to give Klaus the wrong impression but _why_ did she care? Caroline told herself it was for Hayato's sake; that poor boy had been through enough without attracting Klaus's ire.

When the elevator doors finally dinged open, Caroline didn't even notice. It wasn't until she felt Klaus grasp her small hand in his rough warm palm to gently tug her out and into the hall.

"Sorry," she demurred. "I guess I'm a little lost in my own thoughts."

"I can see that, love," he laughed in reply, his tone trying to lighten the mood. He could tell she'd fallen into a bit of a funk after getting in touch with her home base.

Caroline began to slip her hand from his own but was surprised when she felt his grip tighten possessively. The annoyed glare she leveled at him was enough to make him immediately loosen his grip enough for her to snap her hand away. For a second she caught his eyes which looked distinctly hurt with her but, when he caught sight of her blush, he broke out into a dimpled grin. He didn't reach for her hand again, but he did keep a palm pressed consistently into the small of her back as he led her down the hall to his suite.

"How much of this space is yours?" Caroline asked, clearing her throat like she wished she could clear their walk of this tension. The hall they were walking down was extremely long and void of any doors except for the huge set of double french doors awaiting them at the end with four Hybrids posted outside.

"Everything on this side of the pyramid, this floor and four below it, the main entrance is through the top floor but there are several other ways in and out that not many people know of," he told her. "Some only even I know about. We've been remodeling the whole building to our satisfaction for 125 years now… this isn't the same hotel anyone remembers from back in the early 21st century."

"Well, I can certainly see that," Caroline acknowledged as soon as he'd stepped up to his door to scan both his palm prints _and_ take a retina scan before his bedroom doors would open. "Leave it to Klaus Mikaelson to keep his bedroom under more secure lockdown than his labs…"

Klaus ignored that point as a light indicated that he could use the door handle now and he swung them open, gesturing for her to enter first, "We'll have to get you IDed and scanned into our system as well so you'll have access to the room."

"Me?" she asked, her tone joking though she was genuinely shocked. "You trust me to have access to all the secrets you doubtless have hidden in here?"

Klaus smirked at her wickedly, "Rest assured, love, that if you're stealing away in the night to sneak in to snoop… I'll have you forgetting exactly why you came and what you're looking for before you make it a foot beyond the threshold." He chose to joke with her rather than say what he was _actually_ thinking, worried he might scare her off.

And from the way he was looking at her, Caroline knew he wasn't threatening her with compulsion but something _much_ more sweet. The look had her stomach doing flip flops so she distracted herself with a scoff.

"Ha _ha,"_ she deadpanned.

"You laugh now," Klaus teased before making sure the door was shut firmly behind them.

Caroline peered into his private rooms and took in her surroundings. This top floor opened onto an immaculate marble foyer with a ridiculously large glittering chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Art, of course, much of it easily recognizable famous works, was hung everywhere in the elaborately decorated apartments. It was so undeniably Klaus — furniture made from rich mahogany and plush leather, antiques and staggeringly tall bookshelves, and an old fashioned 1920's style bar tucked into one of the corners. Just off of the foyer she also spotted an elaborately carved wooden spiral staircase leading to the floors he'd indicated below. _Where his bedroom would be._ Beyond all of that lay his angled panoramic windows overlooked the hot red Nevada desert.

"I see your style hasn't changed at all," she commented, not teasingly but in genuine fondness. His old school taste reminded her of his fancy mansion back in Mystic Falls which in turn reminded her of high school and, _ha,_ simpler times — she couldn't believe she was saying that. Klaus's style was sophisticated but utterly masculine. It seamlessly mixed art deco with the vibe of a swanky cigar lounge in early 1900s New Orleans and she'd be lying if she'd tried to say it wasn't sexy.

"I'm a man that knows what he likes," Klaus told her, gesturing for her to take a seat on the plush leather couch in his lounge while he went to the bar. His eyes flashed lustfully over hers as he brought out two tumblers, making her stomach flip once again, this time accompanied by a needy pulse between her legs. _They were supposed to be discussing her trip tomorrow but…_ damnit, _did he_ know _she was getting turned on? He was smirking at her even more smugly than usual she was sure._

"I'll take that drink now," she prompted, when he finished pouring them both some bourbon but continued to study her from behind the bar for a beat longer.

He grinned at her and suddenly Caroline wished she had just stood up for the drink herself because then, at the very least, she could have kept the bar between them. Now he was striding straight towards where she sat on his long couch. There was plenty of room on that couch. There were plenty of other chairs in that room. But, of course, Klaus planted himself right down beside her, less than a couple of inches of space between them.

"Cheers, love," he said and handed her a glass.

"Cheers," she replied, not knowing what they were toasting to but feeling distinctly like he had something _definite_ in mind.

They took simultaneous sips of their borbon, hers much longer than his and his eyes never leaving hers. When he put his glass on a low table in front of them, Caroline took a shaky breath before returning to her borbon and downing it in one go. Klaus cocked his head in amusement, one arm sneaking around behind her on the couch to just barely graze her shoulder with his fingertips.

"Easy, Caroline…" he chided, sounding more intrigued than anything. "Are you alright, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Caroline replied, putting her empty glass next to his. "I just haven't had good bourbon in a long time or… um, or… a-any bourbon, for that matter."

 _My god was she stuttering? Yes four years was a long time to go without getting any but, seriously? She was over 200 years old now! Why was she shaking like a girl in high school?_

"Could you maybe sit somewhere else?" she asked quietly. Caroline glanced up to him for just a second and, when she caught his eyes soften minutely but, he wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily.

"Do you _really_ want me to, darling?" Klaus asked.

He was leaning into her. She could not have been more aware of his thigh pressing into hers and the scent of bourbon between them. Her lips parted without thinking.

"Klaus, what are you doing?" she asked, well aware that her tone was husky.

"Shh, Caroline," he pleaded, his eyes at half-mast with lust.

His arm wrapped around her back and pulled her flush into his chest. Caroline gasped and her eyes snapped shut the second his lips were on hers, relentlessly seeking a response. The feel of him hot and wet and needy against her instantly sent shockwaves of pleasure shooting through her skin and muscles. _And, fuck, wow how many decades had it been since she'd kissed so passionately that it made her actually see stars?_ Caroline submitted into the pleasure of kissing _him_ for just a split second… before something in her snapped and she was vamp speeding out of his arms and across the room.

Klaus's laughter punctuated the air but it sounded hollow and frustrated.

"Klaus, why did you _do_ that!?" Caroline demanded.

His frustrated laugh turned into a genuine chuckle then, "Well darling…" He looked to her with an expression that said ' _What do you want me to say?'_ She continued to silently blame him so finally Klaus came out with it, "Sweetheart I did that because it was _painfully_ obvious that you wanted me to."

"You don't know that!" Caroline scoffed back, immediately regretting the words as soon as she'd said them.

This time he was the one vamp speeding across the room, stepping into her space until she found herself being backed up into the bar behind them.

"Oh, I don't?" he asked. "What else could it be when your body flushes every time I look at you without hiding my lust? When you start trembling every time I say something suggestive?"

"I'm not… that's not-"

"Still don't believe me?" Klaus asked, "What do you need to hear? That I could smell your arousal from across the room? I've been able to smell it since I arrived in Chiang Mai Caroline, it's been driving me _insane_. I can think of nothing else!"

"Klaus, stop. I can't _do_ this right now," Caroline started but he was quick to interrupt her again, growing more and more agitated. She had to understand that he _needed_ her and he was more than aware she at least _wanted_ him too.

"It is a strange version of you I find these days," Klaus said, almost reverently. "Still full of light but so incredibly part of the darkness now. So much stronger than even _I'd_ imagined you'd become and, trust me love, I always imagined _very big things_ for your future. But when it comes to us it seems you're picking us up exactly where you last left us to drop, aren't you? You want me every bit as badly as you did all those years ago and you _still_ won't let yourself give in… _why?_ Are you planning to torture _both_ of us eternally?"

" _I'm_ picking us up exactly where we left off?" she accused, tone now offended. "You're the one still flirting with me at every turn when it _clearly_ makes me uncomfortable-"

"-You are the exact _opposite_ of uncomfortable with it and you _know it!"_

"Well what about how you're acting right now? Yelling at me like you're still the Big Bad Wolf in Mystic Falls?" Caroline screamed right back at him.

"Because you're shutting down on me!" Klaus practically begged. "I'm trying to find _some way_ to reach out to you but you just keep pushing me away and telling me you can't talk about it."

"We talked about our marriages, Klaus!" Caroline defended, albeit weekly.

"And now I want to talk about _us!_ I waited for you for two goddamn centuries, Caroline!"

"I don't know what else to say, I'm not ready for that talk, not yet," she told him.

Klaus finally paused then. _Not yet_ was certainly a hell of a lot better than _I can't._

"When then?" he asked.

"I'm not sure just… I'm still adjusting to a lot more here than you realize," Caroline answered sincerely. At least he felt like he was getting _something_ out of her now.

"Alright, love… alright," Klaus finally conceded, taking a step back from her. "Not today. But you _do_ owe me a talk and I only have so much patience. I won't put up with six months of you pushing this off, I think that's fair."

"It is, it's more than fair," Caroline said, shutting her eyes for a moment in what almost looked like an expression of guilt.

Her internal monologue was running rampant with things she would have said if she'd been ready to be honest with him. _Look Klaus, I know I'm being difficult right now, I'm not normally so evasive about my feelings anymore, I've grown up more than that it's just that… you make me feel and act crazy, Klaus. When I'm around you I don't know if you make feel like a woman or a child and it scares the shit out of me but I can't get enough of it either._

Caroline knew he _deserved_ to hear that, after how honest he'd been with her. And now she was starting to feel like she'd been hard on him. Yes, he had screwed things up at the Waste but Klaus's priorities had clearly dramatically shifted after fatherhood and no longer focused on leading. But he'd asked Caroline for her _help_ on that front.

So _why_ couldn't she force herself to put herself out there for him, to just meet him halfway?

When she opened her eyes again, she'd composed herself and all Caroline said was, "So, for now, can we just go over a game plan for tomorrow's trip?"

He sighed and nodded, pulling the bottle of bourbon from behind the bar and taking a different seat further away from her this time when they sat down.

* * *

They rose early the next morning, just as the sun began to light the sky up pink. Ridley was now fully adjusted, thank goodness, minus her skin being a tad more sensitive and needing to wear light scarves and sunglasses near constantly while she was outside. When Caroline asked why they were leaving at this time instead of just after dusk like their first trip, Hope informed her that really it was just about catching a time of day when the temperature had been consistent for awhile because sudden spikes or drops made sandstorms slight more likely.

And then Hope had told her that wasn't really true anymore, though, the storms had gotten so unpredictable that they really popped up whenever and wherever. Clearly she had not realized in giving that explanation that Caroline was worried for Ridley's safety. When Hope saw her glance over anxiously to the young witch, who was suiting up with a collection of bandannas tied around her neck and putting on some shaded goggles, she quickly amended her statement.

"It's been really clear lately and there isn't much wind out today though, so we've got nothing to worry about," Hope reassured her and, luckily, Caroline seemed to relax and infinitesimal amount.

Klaus, of course, made an appearance to see them off, looking uncharacteristically out of sorts and… _nervous_ , _holy hell was Caroline actually seeing Klaus Mikaelson look nervous._ As he approached their group, his eyes were darting back and forth between Hope and herself like letting them go into potential danger _without_ him was possibly the most absurd decision he'd ever made in his life and he was still having a really hard time coming to grips with it. He wasn't just nervous, he was actually _fretting_ over them.

"My sweet daughter," he said, reaching out an arm to Hope first, "May I speak with you before you all head out?"

"Yeah, of course," she responded, easily barreling herself into his side where he wrapped his arm high around her shoulders as they walked back into the hotel for with each other for a minute.

That left Caroline standing with Vale and Ridley in the garage, loading up some bikes. Even the Hybrids had been banned and, even further displaying their distrust, Ezra had restricted them from arriving in a tank or vehicle. If she was expecting four people, they didn't want to see anymore than four vehicles arrive. A tank could conceal extra people. In fact, they'd only be taking two bikes since Ridley would be riding with Caroline and Vale with Hope and Vale wouldn't be returning to The Luxor with them.

Vale was showing Ridley to Hope's vast collection of bedazzled and metallic painted helmets when Hope quickly reappeared out the same doors she'd only just entered with Klaus.

"That was quick," Caroline commented.

"He just wanted to say goodbye," Hope smiled. "It's not often he even knows when I'm going to visit The Waste, telling me to be safe is kind of a novelty for him. Speaking of which, he asked if you'd go back in to speak with him briefly."

"Uh, sure," Caroline replied. "Yeah, I'll be right back."

She jogged back into the hotel lobby which was attached to the garage by a long hallway before vamp speeding down it.

"Good morning, love," Klaus's voice sounded from behind her, sitting at a couch at the far end of the lobby by a modern looking fire pit. She could hear his voice was strained, that he was working hard not to show what a bad mood this day was putting him in.

Caroline thought about what they'd discussed the previous evening, wondering if he was trying to go over it again. The first thing they discussed was how interested Ezra had been with Caroline's history of shutting down human blood farms. Clearly, they both thought, there was likely rumor of a farm starting up nearby that the citizens of The Waste were aiming to shut down. Now that Caroline and Klaus both had to prove themselves as trustworthy, it seemed likely that they were prepared to make Caroline bargain to help them shut the farm down as a way to prove herself as trustworthy enough to work with over the next few months.

That was no skin off Caroline's nose. If there _was_ a farm somewhere around here she definitely wanted to know about it and she would _definitely_ shut it down. It had been her ingenious idea that Klaus offer his assistance in the mission as a way of showing he was willing to work with them in the future. He hadn't been thrilled about the idea, mostly because human blood farms, even huge ones, attracted rabid wolves. It was just _dangerous_ , no matter how many times Caroline had done it. Not to mention, he'd managed to keep Hope out of that kind of mess all these years but, if they started this mission, she would invariably latch on. Hope had already seen too many horrible things, she didn't need to add the atrocities of the farms to her list too.

But, ultimately, he'd agreed as long as that was _all_ he'd be conceding to offer them for the time being. Caroline already wasn't sure it would be enough but, what could she do? Klaus was incredibly stubborn and even getting him to concede on one point was an incredible victory. _Again, she knew somewhere deep down that she was being harsh. Klaus had made far more efforts than she to meet her halfway. God, was_ she _the one projecting her issues now?_

"Good morning. Hope said you wanted to see me before we headed out?" she asked.

"Yes, I did," he said, standing to meet her as they crossed the room towards one another. "This will be quick so… just, hear out the whole thing, alright?"

Klaus looked so earnestly concerned that she might just bolt in the middle of whatever he had to say that Caroline couldn't help the familiar stab of guilt that hit her right in her chest.

"Of course," Caroline said, offering him a small smile. Klaus relaxed a bit.

"Yesterday… when you were surprised that I'd want to give you access to my rooms," Klaus began. "I joked around with you about it. But the truth is, I _do_ trust you Caroline… with anything. I would trust you with my own life. And I'm 100% sure that I've never uttered those words aloud to anyone before."

Caroline swallowed a lump forming in her throat. _How did he wreak havoc on her emotions like this?_ She opened her mouth to respond but he put up a finger.

"This isn't about us, right now, actually. I'm talking to you as a fellow parent. Hope is a strong, smart, and resourceful girl but she is also too trusting and still quite reckless," Klaus said. "But I trust you with her. I know you would never let anything happen to my daughter, Caroline, just as I'd never let anything happen to yours. I just need to know you'll be looking after her for me today."

"Yes, of course I will look after Hope," Caroline replied immediately. "I'm really growing to care for her, Klaus…" _Why was it so easy to say about Hope but not…?_ Klaus seemed to catch that train of thought too and when she saw the pain in his eyes this time, it hurt Caroline almost too much to look at. "And thank you for saying that about Ridley. I trust you too, you know. All of what you said… same here," she finished, cautiously reaching up with one hand to place her palm gently to his cheek.

Klaus's eyes closed in contentment for a split second as he leaned into her soft touch. _I'm trying,_ she willed him to understand, _I'm going slower than you but I_ am _trying._ When she lowered her hand, he opened his eyes.

"Be safe, my love," he whispered.

"You make it seem like we're going to war," Caroline teased before turning around and heading back into the garage. "We'll see you later tonight."

 _Every second that I've been without you was a war,_ Klaus lamented to her retreating form, _And that will never change._

And to top it all off, he _still_ couldn't believe that he'd somehow let himself be convinced to part with the only two people Klaus had ever cared about.

This was going to be a long and awful day.

* * *

The trip to The Waste had taken all day. It was not _nearly_ so hostile as Klaus had made it up in his head to believe it was, particularly when the arrived on two simple bikes. The group receiving them was in much better spirits without Klaus present or any of the other Originals for that matter.

Trailing behind Ezra to a cool place where she and Caroline could speak, Caroline overheard Hope suggesting that she take Ridley out to see some caves.

"Absolutely not," Caroline hollered back to them immediately, "You two are both going to stay glued to my side _all day."_

"Ugh, what did my Dad say to you?" Hope asked.

"Nothing ridiculous, just that I keep an eye out for you," Caroline replied.

"Huh, that's funny," Hope considered. "He told me pretty much the same thing about you."

"What?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, before you went to talk to him this morning? He called me in, remember?" she asked. "Anyway he was all like ' _Hope, you are far more familiar with the territory and people out there than Caroline does and I expect_ you _to make sure nothing goes wrong out there.'"_

"Well isn't that just adorable," Vale teased, nudging Hope playfully in the ribs. "The Evil King all worked up over his lady _loves."_

The way he said "loves" had him slipping out of his Irish lilt for a smoother British drawl in a distinct imitation of Klaus that had Caroline and Ridley both laughing and Hope grimacing. Ezra was still stoically leading the group ahead, still, apparently, none too happy to have to hear anything about Klaus.

Hope faked a gag, "Ugh, that left an unsavory taste in my mouth and I'm not even the one who said it. Anyway, Caroline, I _trusted_ you enough to ignore my Dad's instructions to keep eyes on you like a bodyguard. Don't I deserve that same respect?"

"I wouldn't try that tactic, Hope," Ridley warned. "Maybe you can get away with that kind of manipulation with your Dad but not Caroline…"

"Not only have I been the mother of crafty witches and warlocks like yourself several times over, I also used to be a daughter. Do you think I never tried the respect tactic with my mother?" Caroline asked, amused.

"This isn't fair and you know it," Hope challenged. "We're not that far apart in age."

"I'm still old enough to be your mother, technically," Caroline said with a shrug. "Besides, it's one thing what you do on your own time here but _not_ with Ridley."

"Fine!" Hope said, throwing up her hands exasperated. "We'll stick with you."

"Glad my company is still so appealing to you, Hope," Ezra had muttered darkly ahead of them.

"Ezra!" Vale cajoled, jogging to catch up with their frequently abrasive friend. "That's not what Hope meant and you know it!"

Caroline exchanged a nervous glance with the two other girls before they trailed quietly behind. They hoped Vale would be able to smooth things over reasonably well.

After that, they'd spent the whole day talking in a communal tent with about half a dozen other vampires all of whom worked closely with Ezra. They'd wanted to know everything about Caroline's experiences with the farms immediately and she told them all she could. She spoke for a good two hours before she finished and realized that everyone had been watching her in completely still silence. Hope looked genuinely _awed._ But soon, enough, they had laid into her with question that took an endless amount of time more.

Ezra was quick, after Caroline had responded to everything in detail to admit that, yes, there was a farm they were trying to take down. It had popped up just outside of Salt Lake City. Would she help them? Caroline agreed without hesitation.

And then she'd dropped the bomb about wanting to include Klaus. _That_ had stirred up such raucous debate that part of her worried it could have turned violent. She'd explained that he wanted to make amends, that he was prepared to work out a treaty with them. But they didn't want to hear it.

Finally, though, Hope spoke up, "Look, my father can be a valuable asset. You all keep saying the farms attract wolves, then shouldn't we have some Hybrids with us to heal you if need be? Some of the farms are protected by covens, if that's true here then you're going to want me there and then Klaus Mikaelson will _definitely_ be joining you, no questions asked. So I realize you're trying to bargain with us here but, the way I see it you all only have two options. One, you can take down this farm with help from Caroline, myself, my father, and his fully trained Hybrid army and weapons. Or, two, you all can go take up that fight by yourself because you can't pick and choose which ones of us come with you."

Caroline was hoping she was bluffing because she'd be damned if she wasn't going to that farm now. She supposed she could always just ask Klaus to help her if they didn't go with The Waste. But Hope's shrewd debating skills seemed to be paying off as Ezra weighed what she said, knowing that her friend would never _entirely_ bullshit her.

And ultimately they'd agreed. And Ezra was scheduled to return to the Luxor with Vale and a handful of other people to talk this over with Klaus the next day.

And Caroline might have promised them one more _teeny_ thing that Klaus had no clue about… When she'd suggested it, to try to build up some sense of trust within the very hardened community, Hope had thrown her a look that was nothing short of accusing her of insanity.

After kissing Vale goodbye and packing up their bikes, Hope whirled on Caroline as they made their way out of the tented shantytown and back to their two bikes.

"Are you fucking _kidding_ me Caroline?" Hope exclaimed once they were out of earshot as they walked. "Offering them one of my father's _buildings_ in the city? You can't just give up a chunk of his territory without discussing it with him!"

"One building is hardly a chunk, Hope," Caroline argued but, inside, her heart was beating the rhythm of an impending heart attack. Klaus would _not_ be pleased.

"I so do not want to be around for that conversation," Hope scoffed, before nervously eyeing the sky ahead of them. It was just before sunset… the heat of the sunny day was quickly morphing into the cool of dusk. The temperature was changing too quickly and the air was far too still.

"Hope?" Caroline questioned, worry evident in her tone, behind her. "What is it?"

"It's nothing, we just need to get going," Hope replied.

"Hope, tell me," Caroline insisted.

"I think there's going to be a sandstorm," she replied with a heavy sigh. Both Caroline and Ridley balked.

"What?! Then shouldn't we stay here?" Ridley asked.

"Ridley, do not freak out but… there's a reason there aren't witches at The Waste, humans can't survive the storms out here. You could try to hang out in the hanger or the caves but even in there… if the sand gets thick enough for too long..." Hope didn't want to say it out loud. _Suffocation._

"Oh my god," Caroline said, of course being the one to freak out. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to get on these bikes," Hope said, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible, "And we're going to get the hell back into the city."

* * *

 _ **A/N: This summary of the Bennett Triplets actually has a few details that weren't brought up last chapter for various reasons — mostly because they didn't make sense to be explained through dialogue — but I think will help people make sense of all of the varying disasters that led to the end of the world as Caroline and Hope knew it.**_

 **So, A Summary of the Emily Bennett Grimoire Happenings of Chapter 15:** _I'll summarize this from 2070, when everything started. In 2070, Caroline, Damon, Bonnie and her family (plus some other surprise people we haven't discussed yet) all find themselves in Eastern Europe right at the start of the First Territory Wars. The territory wars, in short, are simply over loss of land from both flooding and rapid pandemic spread of the disease. Bonnie's son and daughter-in-law are killed during the war. Their 18-year-old triplet sons (one of whom, Soren, mentioned back in Chapter 11 has already has had a daughter out of wedlock) are distraught over the loss f their parents and summon a huge hurricane — seemingly under the guise of taking down the military responsible for their parents' death. In the midst of the storm, the three brothers disappear without a trace, as do both Emily's and one of the triplets' grimoires, the brother Draime's specifically. Meanwhile, at the exact same moment the triplets disappear, a dying coven of witches known as the Cojoc Coven find Emily Bennett's grimoire when it pops up out of nowhere in Portland, Oregon. The Cojoc's have a powerful daughter with the ability to see the future and touching the grimoire gives her a vision they don't understand._

 _20 years later in 2090, Portland is a city underwater and the four remaining Cojoc's have relocated to Boise where they run into the Mikaelsons. The apocalyptic floods have finally stopped but now the Inferno has started and Klaus is desperately searching for a safe place for his family to live. When they meet the Cojoc's and their daughter with her powerful foresight abilities, it seems like a perfect mutual alliance. They just happen to discover that the Cojoc coven has also been in possession of Emily's grimoire for a couple of decades and, because the two families have allied themselves, they are more than happy to explain how they found the book in 2070 and the vision their daughter had about it. But before they can finish the story of the vision, rabid wolves fleeing the Inferno attack the city and kill every remaining member of the small coven. The Mikaelsons leave the city with all of their Cojoc grimoires and magical tools including Emily Bennett's lost grimoire. And to date no one has any clue what happened, if the Cojoc's had a mysterious connection to the book or not, why it ended up in Portland at all, what happened to the Triplets who are presumed dead, or what the hell the vision that Emily's spell-book brought was._

 ** _Hope that clears things up! Please review and let me know how you felt about all of the Klaro-feels in this update. If it felt a little angsty, I swear the vibe is supposed to be more hopelessly romantic and magnetic attraction despite all odds. That's just how emotional I see these two playing out after two centuries, bad marriages, and raising kids through the apocalypse. Rest assured the ultimate reunion will be_ something _to make it worth it._**


	17. Into Darkness

_**A/N: So my soundtrack for the exciting part of this chapter was actually a classical piece from the horror movie "It Follows" called "Heels." It's a really great, heart-racing pump up to accompany the scene if you wanna try to find it; I know it's on Spotify and YouTube and now my Tumblr.**_

* * *

" _This storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm."_ — _Franz Kafka_

* * *

 _ **17**_

 _ **Into Darkness**_

* * *

He had agreed not to physically go to The Waste with them but, Klaus Mikaelson would be damned if he didn't have eyes on the scrappy community all day. One set of said eyes were, naturally, his own, watching out over their ride through the desert and then watching them wander through and disappear into the tented maze of The Waste. Klaus was watching from high up in the Luxor, using a top-grade set of military binoculars. He'd sent Hybrids far out into the surrounding dunes as well to keep watch from far off using stealthier sniper telescopes. They had instructions to keep him informed on anything they saw via long-range walkies that couldn't be picked up on The Waste's radio equipment.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot to see. They'd disappeared into some massive tent for _hours_ never to come out once. Nevertheless, he paced back and forth in front of the window looking for them all day and constantly checking in with his Hybrids.

"Niklaus," Elijah had attempted, just once earlier that day, "Do you _really_ think this is necessary?"

"My _daughter_ is out there," he hissed, "Alongside the love of my life, no less!"

Elijah sighed, "Hope has been friendly with the community out there for _years,_ she's more than equipped to take care of herself and I can't help but find this display insulting to Caroline's capabilities as well." Once Niklaus looked sufficiently guilted, Elijah continued, "If there's _anyone_ we should worry about it's Ridley Bennett. There's a reason we don't find uninfected humans or witches that far out in the desert."

Klaus snapped his attention back to Elijah with _far_ more confidence at that statement, "Yes, brother, I've been meaning to ask you… why have _you_ developed such a fascination with Caroline's daughter?"

Elijah scoffed, visibly affronted, "I have _no_ idea what you are intimating, Niklaus," he pushed. "I am merely concerned given the fact that uninfected humans have a history of not surviving out in the desert."

"Mmm, Hope is vague about whether or not they have witches still. I swear she gives me a different answer every day," Klaus agreed. "I think she thinks I'd try to round them up…"

"And is she wrong?" Elijah asked.

Klaus growled, "Don't change the subject, brother! I'm not a fool and neither is Caroline. She knows her own daughter and I know you. You don't let _anyone_ in but you're already following Ridley like she's all you've been looking for in the past two centuries."

Elijah sighed, "Caroline has noticed?"

Klaus nodded, "I think when she saw you two looking over Emily Bennett's grimoire together, she became concerned."

Of course Elijah remembered that very well, how Ridley had taken a seat first and he'd put the grimoire in front of her before pulling up a chair next to her. And, for some reason he just hadn't been able to help himself and sat much closer than necessary. Under the guise of flipping through the book with her and pointing out different notes and illustrations, no one else had seemed to notice. Then, when he felt Ridley herself had less than subtly leaned in closer to him as well — pushing the soft curve of her thigh into his leg and knocking her foot into his own softly enough to have been an accident — Elijah felt an unexpected swell of… well something. Even he wasn't sure he was quite ready to label it yet. And he'd been around well more than long enough to know when something _was_ or _wasn't_ an accident.

""Look, Elijah, I expect this behavior with Kol… particularly after his interest in Bonnie-" Klaus began but Elijah cut him off.

"I am _not_ Kol and you know very well that I don't keep passing fancies and fascinations the way he does, Niklaus!" Elijah all but spat out.

"Alright then," his brother replied, tone tight, clearly not liking being spoken to in such a way, even by Elijah, "If it's not some passing fascination, then what is it."

Elijah tried to hold Niklaus's gaze but was surprised when he felt his own resolve slipping and he had to look away to the ground, "I don't _know_. I've barely known the girl a few days but all I can say is that I already feel some thing for her."

Niklaus sighed liked that answer clearly wasn't sufficient.

"Did you yourself not fall in love with Caroline from the first moment you saw her?" Elijah tried again.

Klaus stopped pacing immediately, the answer resonating a chord within him. He looked at his brother much more compassionately this time.

"Are you saying you think you're already falling in _love_ with her?" he asked Elijah.

Elijah looked a little stunned at the question and then a little frustrated with himself, realizing that he'd implied entirely the wrong thing.

"You may have experienced love at first sight with Caroline, who knows, perhaps it has something to do with your wolf side," Elijah responded. "I do not experience love in quite that way. What I am saying is that it is possible for me to feel something in just a few hours with someone that is certainly more meaningful than… well, whatever the _bloody hell Kol_ is doing."

Klaus actually burst aloud in laughter at that Elijah never let himself get out of control enough to _curse_ , not even at Kol, no matter how bad the shenanigans got.

"Well, I think we have our answer then," Klaus drawled when he finished laughing. "Here Elijah, have a drink, we could both use one."

Klaus poured them two glasses of bourbon, handing one to Elijah who was striding over to him with cautious eyes.

"Niklaus, if you've been recruited on some mission to keep me from interacting with Miss Bennett…" he began, "Feel free to use the tactic on Kol but I've done nothing untoward to the young woman. Further, though she is young, she _is_ an adult woman capable of making her own decisions."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that and so is Caroline," Nik replied. "In fact she's very conflicted about it. I believe she merely wanted me to have this conversation as a way to let you know… she'll be keeping an eye on things."

"It seems unlike her not to just confront me with the particular kind of news herself," Elijah considered before taking a long sip of his bourbon and sitting down on a couch in the room where Klaus was posted to watch for Caroline and the rest.

"I have no doubt she will so you might as well prepare yourself for it now," Nik laughed. "I expect it will come immediately after the next time she finds you too cozying up together."

Elijah scoffed, "I've hardly done anything of the sort."

Niklaus raised his eyebrows but let the point drop. Usually approaching something even subtly with Elijah was enough to make him address his behavior — though he had to admit, it was strange having to nudge Elijah to address his behavior at _all._

His conversation with Kol would be a different story.

* * *

It had been the longest day of Klaus's life but _finally_ just as the hot Vegas sun was beginning to set and settle in for the night, a call came in over the walkies from one of his Hybrids. They were finally all emerging from the main tent. Klaus was immediately back at his own post to watch them make their way home.

Leaving the tents, he could still only see them intermittently as they flashed between the large throngs of people and tightly packed rows of dusty red tents but, nothing outwardly _appeared_ to be wrong. No one's posture looked antagonistic and everyone was walking alongside one another at a normal pace.

It was when they stopped near the edge of town that Klaus noticed it. Something out of the corner of his eye through the window… far out in the dunes. The sand. A wall of it.

Sand was coming in a rising wind and it was accumulating in massive and rapidly building red clouds, looking to be one of the most sizeable they'd seen in decades. The dense wall was still several miles off from the small town but it was expanding its boundary more and more quickly. Klaus's breath would have caught in his throat with fear if his innate response to adrenalyn wasn't to take action.

"Elijah!" he barked at his brother, who had been patiently waiting with him all day, reading through old books and looking at a suspicious number of grimoires in particular.

His brother was at his side in an instant, looking out the window and immediately identifying the source of his brother's stress. "I'll go and prepare the tanks to go out," he told Niklaus immediately.

"Yes, in the meantime I'll round up the Hybrids and we need to prepare Freya to do a _very_ precise location spell," Klaus replied, his voice hard.

Niklaus Mikaelson was _always_ collected under pressure and ready with an immediate plan to put into action should anything go wrong. But that didn't mean his undead heart was just about ready to burst outside his chest right now, nor that he wasn't breaking out into a cold sweat. Logically, he knew very well that Hope could handle herself in one of the Black Blizzards — a red wall of mushroom clouds from a distance, black once you were swept into the force's blinding sand — and Caroline could survive one as too as a more than 200-year-old vampire.

Still, Caroline would be terrified and it wouldn't be pleasant. If she couldn't find suitable shelter or get back in time her lungs and eyes would fill with sand that she'd be forced to cough out until she could finally use his blood to heal here… however long it took them to find her in the first place. If she got lost, the storm was likely to bury her.

But the real concern was Ridley. She wasn't safe in The Waste — not for _sure_ anyway, unless they really did have a few witches out there still protecting themselves; not that they'd trust Ridley with their survival secrets at this stage of the game. But she _certainly_ wasn't safe out in the middle of the desert either, stuck in no-man's land as a tidal wave of Earth threatened to swallow her like an insignificant speck.

"Clock how fast the storm is coming," Klaus ordered as he began rounding up Hybrids while speeding through the hallways, "And then I want to you to see how fast Hope and Caroline are driving. We're going to try to meet them more than halfway in the tanks."

* * *

From their position, low on the ground in a flat between dunes, they had a lot less visibility than Hope's father had on one of the top floors of the Luxor. But even though they couldn't yet see the impending wall of sand headed their way quite yet, they could all sense the signs.

The wind had picked up around them dramatically and almost out of nowhere, making the two blonde vampires have to use their strong to hold onto both Ridley _and_ their relatively flimsy bikes. They had been designed for lithe travel over towering dunes, not stability. Ridley herself looked about ready to blow away in the wind as she locked herself between the two of them. Hope picked up her mask of bandannas around her face and lowered her goggles, gesturing for her companions to follow suit.

And then they heard it. Suddenly the whistling of the wind no longer sounded like an incredible force of nature, it sounded like high pitched whistle and chugging of a dozen freight trains headed straight towards them.

"How fast can you ride these things?" Caroline asked immediately.

"Faster than motherfucking James Dean," Hope replied.

"Ridley, hop on with Hope!" Caroline ordered.

"But Caroline-" Ridley began to question but Caroline all but shoved her into the other girl's waiting arms.

"Now Ridley!"

And then wall appeared over the horizon of a dune just beyond the waste, darkening the sky much more deeply. It was staggering in height and width and the massive red cloud rolled towards them like part avalanche, tsunami, and a creature with a mind of its own. As it swallowed up everything in it's path, the sheer force of the sand that it was hurling their way already clouding their goggles, Caroline didn't even half to look back to hear that Hope was pulling Ridley on behind her on her bike,

"Don't stop, don't even look. If anything happens or I fall behind, you keep riding with Ridley, okay? _No matter what,"_ Caroline said and she heard Hope kickstart her engine and speed off leaving a trail of dust behind her.

Caroline was on her bike less than a second behind her but she was no match to keep up with the Vegas-experienced Mikaelson. Not only did she not even know how to ride a motorcycle as well, her machine was being whipped back and forth in a long snapping zigzag as the wind tossed her every which way. She could hear that terrible, gut-wrenching high-pitched whistle growing closer and closer behind her and Caroline's only consolation was that she could see Hope and Ridley growing steadily smaller in the distance as they raced back to Vegas at a near unbelievable speed.

Far ahead of Caroline, putting hundreds of feet and more by the second between herself and the sandstorm, Hope could feel Ridley beginning to look back. Hope knew damn well that seeing her mother face that massive wave of red death would do nothing to help the girl; like looking back to Sodom she was more likely to turn to a pillar of salt.

"Ridley, you heard Caroline before we left! Don't look back!" Hope roared over the hum of her engine and the scream of the wind.

At the same moment, behind them, Caroline felt her back wheel disturbingly lurch and abruptly she was flying into the air. The towering crest of sand sucked her inside. She tried, she _really_ tried not to scream. But the force and the velocity was too much, more than she'd ever experienced before… and Caroline had experienced her fair share of natural disasters. The sound she let out at becoming airborne was more shock than terror but before she had time to assess what was happening her, she was sucked into the racing clouds behind her like quicksand on steroids.

Ridley couldn't help but look back, "Caroline!" she screamed, a wail of pure despair. "Hope we have to go back!"

"We can't! Ridley, there's no way!" Hope was speeding steadily ahead, going _faster_ if anything. The sound of a freight train of sand following them was still chugging steadily behind and Ridley didn't know how scared she _should_ be as a human.

"Please, Hope!" Ridley pleaded, desperation on her face. "That's my mother!"

Ridley didn't often refer to Caroline that way. The words tugged at Hope's heart so intensely she almost let out a sob; _she_ was worried about Caroline too. Instead she ignored the young witch, who was uselessly pounding on her back which Hope could barely even feel. and continued driving. She could see the city ahead of them now. The Luxor's beam and all of the strip's lights had been turned on for them to see.

Behind them, sucked into the massive clouds of sand, dirt, rock, and debris, Caroline was being tossed through the air. The world around her went pitch black but, it wasn't the kind of black Caroline had become long since used to in Chiang Mai. No, this was literally smothering because pure sand was coming at her from every direction. It sliced through her skin like tiny shards of glass and she could only imagine what would have happened to her eyes without the goggles on. The bandannas were doing little to protect her mouth and nose and Caroline distinctly felt like she was suffocating.

She was spinning so fast, she knew this was what it must feel like to die in a tornado times ten. All she could think to do was clutch desperately to her bike, hands locked in a vice grip around the handlebars and her thighs squeezing around her seat to the point of pain.

But just as quickly as she'd been picked up, the storm _slammed_ Caroline down into a dune against something _hard_ where she promptly snapped her neck and several other body parts while somehow miraculously still staying wrapped around her bike. She passed out into the sweet oblivion of death to escape the tempest around her, completely unaware that her bike was now wedged into the sand underneath the large boulder on which she'd broken her neck. As the sand whizzed by, it began to steadily cake her skin in layer after thick layer.

* * *

Hope took one of her short-cuts through the city, feeling Ridley grip on to her tighter each time she rounded a particularly sharp corner into an alleyway. But, soon enough, they were approaching a back entrance of the Luxor.

It was being held open by several Hybrids for them, each working hard to keep the door open as the force of the incredible winds did their damndest to force the doors closed. Hope picked up her speed and whizzed through the open doors, skidding to a breathless and adrenaline fueled halt in the hotel's back garage.

"Hope!" her father's voice called. As usual, she was not at all surprised to find herself being pulled into a hug. "It's good to have you back, daughter."

It was Ridley who was the one who found herself surprised when Klaus next had her forcefully tucked into the side of his body in a partial, but nonetheless bruising, embrace. She was even further surprised when he placed a protective and concerned kiss to her temple. Klaus must have noticed some looks from others around the room and corrected his behavior because he released her from the embrace to hold her at arm's length and study her critically for injury.

"Thank god you made it back," he said to her, his tone so worried he might as well have been talking to his own daughter. "You could have _died_ out there, Ridley."

Suddenly they both noticed she was shaking in his hold.

"M-my mom..." was all that Ridley could honestly get out, tears welling in her eyes. She knew Caroline was immortal but, somehow that didn't make her any less concerned. What if she was buried so far under the sand they never found her? Ridley knew well enough from growing up in the darkness of Chiang Mai that there were still plenty of threats to immortal beings, most _worse_ than death.

"Shh, _shh,_ little witch," Klaus soothed — in a move every Hybrid surrounding them found completely uncharacteristic; Hope knew better, though even she was surprised to see this kind of attention directed towards someone besides herself. "I _will_ find her. I promise you that."

When he released her with abrupt orders to several of the Hybrids to follow him back to the main garage to load into one of the tanks, everyone hopped to obey though they looked no less surprised at what had just transpired. Ridley, of course, was none the wiser that this was untypical affection shown from Klaus even if it had startled her. She'd expected him to be completely focused on Caroline and Hope but his kindness did not strike her as odd in the least. In her mind, this was simply the same man who had rushed her to safety when she was first sick from sun exposure, turned her bedroom into something from her childhood dreams, and clearly loved Caroline with the fierceness the blonde deserved. If he really loved Caroline then of course he'd care about her too, right?

But before she could dwell on it too long, Hope was gesturing for her to follow her out into the lobby.

"Come on, we can watch from the windows there," Hope told her, "Everything is reinforced, we'll be safe."

"Okay…" Ridley replied, still seeming shakey.

Hope rushed over to her friend to wrap her in a hug, "It's going to be _okay,_ Ridley. Your mother is immortal and my father will _never_ stop looking for her if he has to but, luckily it won't come to that."

Ridley nodded numbly but allowed herself to be led out into the lobby.

Klaus and the Hybrids were already gone into the main garage to get out there into the tank but the every single one of the rest of the Mikaelsons was milling about. That wasn't what distracted Hope and Ridley, though. What caught their attention was the massive onslaught of sand that had finally finished traversing the distance of the desert and reached the city.

It slammed into the windows of their glass pyramid with such stunning strength that it shook their entire building, enveloping all four faces of glass windows completely in a whirl of blinding sand. They only reason they could still see was because Klaus had plenty of backup generators running to fill the lobby with light. They were surrounded on all sides, though, the sand as thick as Hope had ever seen it.

 _Hell, how would her father even get out?_ The tanks could plow through most anything but actually getting a garage open against the force of that sand and wind was another. Not to mention trying to close the door afterwards.

"Dad!" Hope called, catching him before he left, "You can't get out in _this_. The doors won't even open."

"We're taking the tunnels," Klaus called back simply and kept walking.

 _The tunnels?_ Hope thought quizzically. Since when had there _ever_ been anything secret of her father's that she didn't know about in full? Well, Caroline being the _obvious_ exception. Hope looked back and forth between Ridley and her father, very torn. She knew she needed to stay with her emotionally wrought friend right now but she also _really, really_ wanted to go sneak behind and see those tunnels.

It was a quick decision ultimately. Hope was a good enough person to know when to put her personal desires aside and be there for the people important to her. ...Not to mention, now that she knew about these tunnels, she could easily go find them later once everything had settled down.

But when she turned around to face Ridley again, Hope's brow furrowed. Flanking Ridley on either side were Elijah and Kol and they were _arguing?_

"All I'm saying, Kol, is that she's _clearly_ in a state of near catatonia, I _don't_ think it's appropriate for you to-"

" _What?_ Show some empathy and affection. Why exactly is it that _you're_ over here then?" Kol spat to Elijah.

 _Holy hell, were they_ fighting _about_ _Ridley at a time like_ this? Suddenly more than angry — particularly with Elijah who had _always_ had good enough sense to leave things alone when needed up until this right exact moment. But now wasn't the time to be picking even _more_ fights. She'd deal with _those_ two later; right now, she just needed to get Ridley away.

"Ridley!" Hope called out, trying to break her friend from her trance as she stared into the storm outside. It worked and Ridley finally broke her unblinking gaze from the sandstorm and looked back to Hope. "Look, Freya is doing a locator spell for Caroline and I'm going to help. But if you help us to, it will be a lot stronger. Particularly because you're linked to Caroline."

"Linked to Caroline? How?" Ridley asked.

Hope looked genuinely confused. "Because… you're her _daughter,"_ she said slowly.

"We're not related by blood," Ridley answered, still obviously unsure she could help.

"Since when does that decide who your mom is?" Hope asked. "Look, if you're scared of using magic… don't worry, Freya and I would never let anything happen to you."

Elijah and Kol had finally dutifully stepped back from the conversation as well as their petty argument but they were looking on with great interest. What would Ridley answer? Would this be her first true attempt at magic besides her basic — and _very weak_ — aneurysm spell?

Ridley closed her eyes, seeming to mull it over with trepidation. But when she looked at Hope again, she nodded her consent with determination.

Hope grinned, "Great, come on."

* * *

The thing about the tunnels beneath the city was that the doors that opened onto the desert opened from a hole built into the flat on the ground so the wind couldn't force it shut. That _didn't_ however, protect the tunnels from becoming flooded with sand once the doors were open but, they could worry about that and fix it later.

Right now, the _only_ priority was getting out, finding Caroline and somehow getting her into the tank. Then it didn't matter how long the storm raged on. These tanks had withstood a sandstorm that lasted close to a week once. But… _how on Earth were they going to find her?_ Klaus had to shake the awful anxiety curling in his core and reset himself to regulate his emotions. Now there was only time to focus.

Sure enough, as they came to the end of the long and wide concrete tunnel beneath the city — surprisingly well lit and clean looking, creepy in a very sterile way — the path began to slowly incline until they reached a hatch that slid open after receiving a signal from the tank.

It would have been like driving into nothing, the storm was so thick but, luckily the tanks were equipped with impossibly bright beams. Flashing them on turned their visibility from the pitch black of the blizzard to what was more akin to a view-able white noise… only painted a sickly orange-red as it buzzed around them. The impact of so many pounds of sand hitting their tank again and again was near deafening in the tank forcing Klaus to _really_ key in his Hybrid senses when a radio signal back from home finally rang to alert them of a message.

"It's Klaus," he growled, as soon as he turned on the radio, eyes still searching wildly outside as if he could see Caroline anywhere, despite the fact that they could barely see more than through one or two inches of the rust colored dust clogging everything in front of them.

"Niklaus, it's Freya," his sister responded.

"Did the location spell work?" Klaus demanded. "Do you have her?"

"We do. She's at 35°59' North by 115°19' West," Freya replied immediately.

Everyone in the tank, particularly Klaus, looked abjectly shocked. Coordinates? No one, not even Hope nor Freya had ever been able to get a location spell to work so precisely. Still, he couldn't dwell on it now and, before he could even say anything else to Freya she was adding one last thing.

"Ridley helped us with the spell," she explained in a hushed, clearly borderline shocked tone, "But we can talk about that when you get back, just go find her."

"Keep checking the location spell," Klaus ordered. "The winds are bad out here. Update me if anything changes. Over and out." His Hybrids were already turning the tank in the direction of the coordinates given to them.

No matter how hard they pushed the tank, the winds were too strong to go more than 20 miles per hour. Thus, his rescue mission was a slow and trudging and making him more irritable and anxious by the second. But no one from home ever called back saying that Caroline's location had changed. This worried Klaus too; if the wind wasn't picking her up, did it mean she was already buried?

And then they finally arrived within feet of the location. Even with their highest beams on, they could not make out anything until… the shadow of something. Something huge and un-moving, even in the force of the wind. '

"I have to go out there," Klaus said. "We'll never find her looking from in here. Get the chains."

The Hybrids all thought this was insane, going out in one of the storms. No one had ever _willingly_ done it before. Nevertheless, they'd already run through a game plan. Klaus was wearing thick desert clothing and was now pulling on an actual gas mask that had bright lights attached to the head of it. Once he was done situating the mask tightly on his face, they ran through it one last time.

Once he was out, the tank hatch would be shut immediately. Under _no_ circumstances were they to attempt to pull him back in until he'd given them the signal that he'd found her: three sharp tugs. Then, they'd pull them back from the half of the chain threaded inside. If he gave one sharp tug that meant he needed assistance in rescuing her and one of them had already elected to be the next to venture out should that be the case.

When the chain was safely looped around his waist and twice across his broad chest, crossing over his shoulders, Klaus finally climbed to the exit of the tank. Even opening the door in the storm was insane for all of them. But, luckily, Klaus was fast. He'd opened the door himself, flashed out with the chain safely connected to the inside of the tank through a separate small track that led outside, and screwed the tank safely shut behind him before his Hybrids even had a chance to react. He wasn't sure how much sand had flown inside in the process but he guessed not too much and began focusing all of his energy on steadying himself in this wind.

And of course, the air was black and vibrating around him. Klaus switched on the lights on his gas mask and suddenly the air illuminated red. Still barely able to see in front of him, Klaus climbed down from the tank and made his way towards the large immobile object he could vaguely make out just five or so feet ahead of where they'd stopped. He thought it was a boulder. If Caroline had gotten caught beneath it, that would explain why her coordinates hadn't changed.

" _You there boss?"_ one of his Hybrids rang through on the radio set inside his mask. Klaus only gave a gruff grunt of response. _"Keep heading straight ahead for four more feet and you'll hit the coordinates."_

They were directing him right to the large form. It took every ounce of his strength to push through the wind but, when finally crossed the few feet, Klaus saw he'd been right. He could reach out to touch it; it was a boulder, heavily sunk into the sand.

 _"You're there,"_ a voice rang in his helmet, _"Well two feet to the right anyway, she's gotta be there somewhere."_

Klaus's neck snapped to the right but he growled when he still could barely see through the dust. But then, the lights of his helmet caught something beneath the boulder. It gleamed amidst the swirling crimson. Klaus knelt down and reached out. He felt the cold metal of a motor cycle, sliding his hand back towards the boulder he could feel that the back wheel of the bike was what was securely trapped beneath the weight of the rock. But where the hell _was_ she?

Klaus continued to feel around blindly on and near the bike, growing frantic. But _finally,_ his hand came into contact with something distinctly soft. Klaus's lights sought her out and found her. She was _so_ caked in sand, no wonder he hadn't seen her; she blended in completely.

 _And, smart girl,_ he couldn't help but think to himself proudly. Even in temporary vampiric death, she'd had the wisdom to keep herself locked tightly around the frame of the bike. Klaus's heart swelled with relief and he let out a gasp that he didn't care if they heard over the radio.

"I've found her!" Klaus said. "Just give me a second!"

Her body had locked into slight rigor mortise around the machine but it wasn't much trouble for Klaus to get her off. He'd had to break a few bones, including both her wrists but, she was dead and would be healed by the time she woke anyway… hopefully.

Once she was locked in his embrace, Klaus tugged on the chain sharply three times and accompanied the signal with an order on his radio "I've got her, bring us back! I'll open the hatch and lower her in, be ready to catch her!"

His return trip to the tank was much quicker even with Caroline in his arms because they weren't fighting the wind. And when he'd tossed her in and flashed in himself behind her, snapping the hatch shut as quickly as possible, he could see a good two feet of sand had built up in the bottom of the tank just from the two times the door had to be opened.

Caroline was resting on top of it and Klaus was immediately at her side.

"Water," he demanded quietly and a canteen was handed to him. He splashed a fair amount across her face, wiping at it with his sleeve so he could finally see her beneath the caked on sand. He pushed up her goggles too, the only things that had truly protected any part of her. Caroline's eyes were clear but her nose and mouth both were filled with sand. Klaus winced. This was _not_ going to be a pleasant waking up process.

But at least he'd found her. Ridley too, he supposed. At least he had her back.

* * *

 _ **Sorry if this has all kinds of typos! I just wanted to get it up but I will try to go back and edit it tomorrow. Up next I'll be publishing Chapter 3 of Wrecked (almost done, could conceivably be up this evening) followed shortly by Chapter 18 of this! I mean, we have to see how Caroline reacts to being rescued, right? And, of course, updates on Demeter's Daughter and The Mikaelson's are chugging steadily along as well.**_

 _ **I've written two prompts for Klaroline Smutmas on Tumblr (to be published here eventually) plus so many other great authors are publishing smutty holiday drabbles on that Tumblr as well. Go check it out, it's very worth it I promise! ;)**_

 _ **Please review! They are my entire motivation to update some days! :) Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive of this fic already along the way.**_


	18. Genesis

" _The the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel, your brother?' He said, 'I do not know, am I my brother's keeper?'"_ — Genesis 4:8-10

 _ **18**_

 _ **Genesis**_

More than one of his Hybrids had been former famous doctors and surgeons for a reason. Klaus watched them move methodically over Caroline, using medical supplies they'd prepared in advance of the trip. Three members of his team surrounded her, swabbing out sand from her nose and all but _shoveling_ it from out of her mouth and throat.

"We'll need to inject her," one of his Hybrids said. "She's so clogged with sand we could never even get hybrid blood down her throat."

Klaus immediately jumped to open a vein to collect some of his blood for them. Any blood would help save her, if she could somehow get it into her system but, hybrid blood would work the most effectively. And Klaus found himself unwilling to let any of his other hybrids exchange blood with her.

After putting together several syringes full of Klaus's blood, they injected Caroline with the first. They had to wait for less than a minute before she responded.

Caroline's eyes snapped open in abject horror and she began heaving. A sudden wash of pain, _pure unadulterated pain_ , swept through her as she realized she couldn't breathe. She felt like she was drowning but with something 100 times heavier in her lungs than water.

"Caroline!" Klaus's voice rang out sharply, "Stay with me. You don't _need_ to breath, we're going to get this-"

' _Out of you'_ was next on his lips but the still natural desire to _breathe_ seemed to catch her unaware and she began forcefully choking, her eyes wide in pain as she clearly tried to get herself under control. Unfortunately, once the reflex was triggered, it wa damn near impossible to stop and Klaus watched on feeling helpless as sand began to pour out of her mouth in a sickening display Klaus had been forced to witness more than one time out here.

Suddenly he was pushing aside the Hybrids surrounding her to wrench her onto her hands and knees, better allowing her to purge herself. And then, Klaus was pounding on her back _hard;_ hard enough to feel her ribs splintering beneath his fists and disturbing cracks that made him wince. But when he saw how effective the pressure was as forcing more and more sand up from her lungs, Klaus kept at it. Broken ribs would heal quickly and easily.

Her pain only lasted a few more minutes before she blacked out on them, from the pain or the shock they weren't sure. They got more of Klaus's blood into her system and had to repeat the terrifying process _three_ devastatingly painful times before _finally_ she was able to take a real shaky breath and begin coughing out the remaining sand out in earnest without blacking out.

Caroline's throat felt like someone had force fed her extremely potent vervain. She'd forgotten that sand was essentially broken glass and now her throat felt completely rubbed raw and she knew it was bleeding as it healed. Nevertheless, she made a frantic motion to sit up and talk to Klaus but he pushed her back down sharply.

"Don't talk, rest," he ordered her, "My blood will finish healing you quickly. Please just wait a moment."

When she still flashed him a disconcerted look he figured out what she was asking.

"Ridley is _fine,"_ Klaus assured her. "Hope got her back in time."

She nodded, finally settling down. One of the female Hybrids with them prompted Caroline to open her mouth and she shone a bright light down her throat.

"I think she's probably able to drink now," the woman said.

Klaus tour open his wrist before pulling Caroline's back into him in what he felt was a distinct copy of the position they'd found themselves in on her birthday all those years ago. It was strange, to be sitting that way again, 200 years later. Instead of in a teenage girl's bedroom they were in a military tank filling with two feet of sand as a storm raged in the desert surrounding them. Klaus _still_ couldn't believe she'd been stuck out in that.

Feeling her fangs sink into his skin was a relief for both of them and, when Caroline began to drink naturally, she started to heal much more quickly. The ache in her lungs began to dissipate and the tender skin of her throat began to knit itself back together. The bones Klaus had cracked in her ribs and spine all returned to normal as she felt him rub soothing circles against her back. She was still clearly in a tremendous amount of pain.

"That was _awful_ ," Caroline gasped, finally regaining her voice but wincing when she spoke and found her voice still slightly altered and raspy. "Like drowning but… so, _so_ much worse. Drowning in the densest, sharpest water you've ever encountered."

Caroline began to go into shock, zoning out and shaking from the memory of the intense pain and Klaus wrapped her into his arms, continuing to rub her back to soothe her.

"Shh, love, it's all over. You should drink more of my blood, it will heal your throat quicker," he promised.

Caroline winced at the thought of swallowing at having to swallow again, though it _had_ begun to heal her more quickly. Klaus seemed to sense what she was thinking.

"Just try it," he insisted and prompted her with his wrist.

Bringing it hesitantly to her lips, Caroline took a small sip and _god heavens was he right._ She took a longer deeper gulp of him. His sweet blood was like a soothing elixir running down the sores of her throat and into her ravaged stomach that had held the bulk of the sand. His healing blood worked its way into every little internal cut that was causing her pain from the inside out and took it away and a matter of seconds.

Caroline couldn't help her primal moan of satisfaction at the sensation of her pain being, once and for all, wiped out of her aching and bleeding system once and for all. Though she suspected she'd have nightmares about coughing up sand for the next few months at _least_.

"Thank you," she said, finally, breathing deeply after releasing his wrist but still coughing. Doubtless she'd be coughing until she healed completely. No matter, even the stale and still dusty air of the tank was beautiful to breathe in currently.

At her expression of gratitude, Caroline felt Klaus tighten his embrace around her from behind. She could feel the tension still radiating off of him as he held her to him like she was something precious. Caroline couldn't help that noticing that fact made a feeling blossom in her stomach. It had been so long since she'd felt anything like that, the sensation was almost foreign… He pressed a lingering kiss to her temple from behind before releasing her from his grip, slowly and hesitantly.

"Always," Klaus promised when Caroline turned around to face him. "I will always come find you."

Staring into his eyes, Caroline knew that perhaps no one had ever said anything so honest and open to her before in her life. Klaus seemed to be doing that a lot lately and it was unexpectedly throwing her off guard. Klaus in Mystic Falls had always been disarmingly open with her but _this_ was something different.

Klaus had always loved her but he had not always known how to love. But apparently, in 200 years, he'd finally learned the _how._ Hope and _finally_ achieving a lasting peaceful relationship with his siblings had taught him that.

The realization forced a sudden urge upon her to offer him some promise in return… but she could not think of anything suitable in the moment. Caroline didn't make promises she couldn't keep.

So, instead of returning his promise, she just repeated herself. " _Thank you,_ Klaus."

* * *

It had been over an hour before they'd been able to head back to the tunnels. Apparently, opening the door to let their tank out had let in enough sand _in_ for more hybrids to have to come in to shovel out the door to let them back in. In the meantime, they'd stayed safely huddled in their tank, Caroline lying back against Klaus as they both sat on the sand that had accumulated on the floor. Caroline couldn't see all of herself, obviously, but from looking down at her limbs and torso, she could tell she barely looked human, still caked in sand. Klaus was covered as well, not as much as her but covered nonetheless and all she could think about was getting back to the hotel to hug Ridley and take a _long,_ hot shower.

Finally, though, they'd gotten the call on the radio and they were able to trigger a door to slide open in the sand. Caroline would never have even known it was there until a blindingly bright white light shot up from Klaus's secret tunnels beckoning them back in with the sand.

Ridley was waiting anxiously for her in the garage, when they got back, Hope posted dutifully at her side. They hadn't showered either in the couple of hours they'd been waiting for them and both girls were a mess of red dirt.

Caroline all but leapt from the tank when it pulled to a stop, making Klaus growl with frustrated concern but she ignored him.

"Caroline!" Ridley shouted, as soon as her now matted red hair appeared over the top of the tank. How did she even _recognize_ her?

"I'm here!" she sobbed back, letting tears freely flow down her cheeks to make trails in the sand still on her face, despite what Klaus had gotten off when healing her.

Hopping down from the tank, the two women clutched each other in a frantic embrace. Caroline murmured " _I'm here. It's okay, we're both okay…"_ over and over again, willing herself to believe it had all been a nightmare. Jesus Ridley would never be allowed out again without a gas mask _and_ a tank to stay close-by at all times.

They hugged for possibly a full five minutes before Caroline finally released the young Bennett to take a good look at Hope before pulling the young blonde into a tight hug of her own.

"Thank you for keeping her safe," Caroline whispered fiercely.

"I would never let anything happen to her," was all Hope promised in return.

Pulling back from the hug, Caroline held Hope at arm's length to examine her affectionately. "And I'm sure I have you to thank as well for help finding me," Caroline assumed. "And you too Freya?"

She looked over Hope's shoulder where the rest of the clan had assembled to watch the whole display, rather affectionately. _God, whatever could be said about the Mikaelsons, they banded together tightly,_ Caroline thought, looking at what the contented family they'd become. Tragedy had just served to make them stronger rather than divide them. It made a longing stir powerfully and painfully in Caroline's chest, so badly that she had to continue to blink back tears.

"Actually," Freya began, her voice clearly a little shake, as if she'd just experienced something rather profound herself, "Though Hope and I did initiate your location spell… the storm was so thick that it would have been damn near impossible to locate you..."

When she trailed off, Klaus picked up. He was unwrapping his dirty tunic from around him to shake off the majority of the sand from a cleaner pair of clothes underneath. "When I was out there looking for you, the sand was so dense that I could not even see you when you were a foot in front of me. I had to find you by blindly feeling around."

"What?" Caroline balked. No one had filled her in on the particulars of her rescue yet. "How on Earth did you even know where to bring the tank?"

"That's where you can actually thank _Ridley_ for finding you," Kol jumped in excitedly behind them. He was using that slightly obnoxious tone he always did when he could cockily insert himself into a story but Caroline could tell that attitude was masking something deeper this time. He, like all of the Mikaelsons, Elijah and Rebekah included, was intensely staring at Ridley with nothing short of awe in his eyes.

Caroline finally looked back to her friend, who was studiously avoiding eye contact with everyone and studying the ground. But she began to explain nonetheless.

"Hope told me that… my involvement would improve the accuracy of the location spell," Ridley said, "Because I'm your daughter."

Caroline couldn't help it. She reached out a hand to squeeze Ridley's fondly. It wasn't often that she heard the witch acknowledge that aspect of their relationship these days.

"I was _so_ scared, Caroline," Ridley said, "You know I've never wanted to practice…" Caroline _had_ always known that but, she hadn't had an inclination as to _why_ until Freya had proposed that it had been because Ridley was scared of the magnitude of her own power. "But Hope promised me it was one of the easiest spells to start with and that she and Freya would never let anything happen to me. So I gave it a try and then…"

When she trailed off, still seeming confused and overwhelmed about what had transpired, Hope jumped in again, "And then Ridley turned into a motherfucking _badass_ and performed a location spell so powerful that we got back _coordinates."_

Caroline's eyebrows jumped upwards at that. No one had _ever_ been able to perform a location spell like that. It was partly what made desiccation so dangerous as a vampire. Tossed into the sea or lost in the caves of Chiang Mai — or apparently the desert outside Vegas — there was the very real chance that you would be lost without a trace for all of eternity. Had Ridley just singlehandedly changed all of that?

Staring at the friend almost reverently, she could see a blush creeping up Ridley's cheeks, even beneath the fine layer of sand still on her face.

"Alright, we'll catch up about all this later but, for now, I'm sure you'll excuse us if Ridley and I take an hour or so to clean off and catch up privately," Caroline stated more than requested. "It's been a _long_ evening."

Kol and Hope both opened their mouths, looking eager to keep talking about the spell but Elijah and Klaus silenced them in unison with a more understanding response, "Of course." It almost made Caroline laugh. It was funny how Klaus could take a page out of Elijah's Book of Decorum when he was trying to impress people. _Not that his charms are entirely lost on you, don't fool yourself Forbes._

"Thank you," was all that Caroline said with a smile. And with that, she wrapped Ridley's hand in her own and flashed off with the girl in the direction of their suite. Right now all that mattered was getting Ridley's story on the spell. Apparently it had been powerful… which meant that Caroline needed to ensure that Ridley was feeling okay. And then she needed to get some perspective on _exactly_ what kind of power they were dealing with here.

* * *

Ridley described performing her first major spell the way most of the Bennetts had over the years: like falling into a trance. Growing up surrounded by vampires, the need to know the aneurysm spell was so imperative that learning it at a young age was all but innate and barely even registered as a marker of a witch coming into her own yet, at least for the Bennett line.

But this attempt at a location spell was different.

Like the girls would do in the waterfalls of Chiang Mai in their take on a communal spa day, Caroline and Ridley just decided to bathe together. The futuristic and luxurious shower in their suite was _bigger_ than some of the small wading pools they'd visit with four or five other women at a time back in the caves anyway.

Caroline wanted the details on Ridley's experience but they also needed to get the dregs of the storm off once and for all. Plus, channeling the memories of the fun they had with their girlfriends back in the falls — but far less cold — might help relax both of them after that ordeal.

So, for awhile, they'd just stood together in silence as hot soothing water rained down on their tense muscles from multiple shower heads around the huge glass walk-in shower. Steam billowed up around them, helping to melt off the red sand almost turning to clay on their skin as the pounding water helped crack and peel it off and send it down the drain. It painted the ivory tile around them a startling deep red, like they were bathing in blood. The thought made Caroline hungry and she realized her body was still quite worn down from the beating she'd taken without feeding on human blood yet.

"As soon as I got into a circle with them, I felt it," Ridley started first, "Something _pulling_ at the back of my mind. Something almost taking me out of myself… It made me dizzy."

Caroline listened patiently. She'd heard this story before. Generation to generation, in one form or another.

"And when I started chanting the spell with them, all of a sudden it was like I was _hooked in_ ," the girl continued. "Caroline, it was like I didn't even have to _try_. I didn't have to focus. I was just completing the spell on autopilot."

Well, _this_ was different. She hadn't heard any of Bonnie's descendants talk about anything like that. All of them had _avidly_ pursued magic for years before their powers finally even manifested themselves in adolescence. All of them would have been trying to focus when they accomplished their first major spells.

But _something_ about Ridley's words rang familiar. What was it? The phrase… _hooked in._ Maybe one of Bonnie's other ancestors had described magic that way before, at least something similar. Who had it been? _God, it wasn't Draime, was it? Not that it would make any difference… he'd just the most troubled of the Triplets, right? Nothing to be concerned over. Hell, now she was going to obsess over trying to remember how it was that Draime spoke about magic. She'd have to look through Soren and Quint's grimoires when they arrived in their next supply exchange with Chiang Mai._

"Anyway, suddenly I was out in the desert, with _you_ ," Ridley said, snapping Caroline out of her whirlwind of thoughts and reminding her that now was simply time to be supportive of Ridley, not worrying about her, "I could see you. I could see through the sand. I couldn't feel it. And when I saw you hanging onto your bike with your neck snapped, I started screaming… but I ended up screaming out numbers."

"The coordinates," Caroline intoned softly, accepting a bottle of sweet smelling body lotion that Ridley handed to her beneath the warm water. Most of the sand was finally off from the water alone but their skin was still stained a residual red in some places. It was far worse on Caroline whose skin had been coated literally in _inches_ of the stuff.

Ridley nodded, "I passed out after that. They told me my nose bled pretty badly but it was to be expected and I'd be fine… they told me that they'd all seen what I'd seen. Freya said I practically _dragged_ them into the desert with me. Their minds anyway."

Well that explained the look of awe then. Freya and Hope alike had been looking at Ridley lie they couldn't have stopped the girl if they _tried._

"But how do you _feel_ Ridley?" Caroline prompted. Was she still scared?

"I feel… fine. I feel good," Ridley said. "I mean, I hated it while it was happening because I was scared for you. Freya said that's part of the reason the spell was so strong, because I was worried I might actually lose you. Now? I don't know, my magic doesn't feel as intimidating as before."

"The more you use it, the more it will feel that way," Caroline said. "Practice is important for control more than anything else. But, Ridley? Thank you… that was incredible and you may have saved me."

"Klaus saved you," Ridley teased, dropping her serious tone to look at Caroline was those _oh so knowing_ eyes again. "He'd never have stopped looking for you. Not for a second."

"Well," Caroline demurred, looking down at the bubbles in her hands as she scrubbed red from her hips, "I guess I can't really argue with that, can I?"

"No," Ridley laughed. "You can't. Speaking of which, let me tell you, boy was he happy to see _me_ when Hope and I got back to the hotel before the storm caught us."

"Really?" Caroline asked, quirking a curious eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Ridley happily launched into the next tale of Klaus's valiant rescue, how he'd embraced Ridley upon her return as if she were his own daughter. And hearing how worried Klaus had been for her daughter — not to mention how apparently open he was in displaying his protectiveness of her — had Caroline's heart melting all over again.

It wasn't the first time that trip Caroline found herself anxious simply to _see_ him again. It was just the first time she admitted it to herself.

* * *

After showering, the both spent an inordinate amount of time lighting incense and putting on fancy oils that had been left for their use. It had been a while since Caroline could be pampered like this and, after the storm earlier that evening, she thought she'd earned it. Plus, both she and Ridley found themselves not quite ready to rejoin the rest of the group. They'd been scared for one another that day and they needed to take some time to be in each other's presence to simply reassure themselves that it was over. At a certain point blood and a plate of cheese and fruits were delivered up to them and they knew they'd missed a late dinner.

It wasn't until around 10 o'clock that night that they finally heard a soft wrapping at their door.

"Come in!" Caroline called, expecting Klaus or Hope to appear but, instead, finding Freya rounding the bend. "Oh, hi!"

"Hello," Freya said. "I wanted to see how you were feeling, both of you. That was a big spell today Ridley…"

Caroline knew the question was addressed mostly to Ridley — anyone could see that Caroline had healed by this point — so she stayed silent to let her answer the other witch herself.

"I was telling Caroline actually, I feel _great_ ," Ridley admitted. "Normally, I fight to suppress every urge of magic I feel but, now that I've performed that spell it's like I've unclogged a part of my brain or something."

"You sort of have," Freya laughed. "You're what? 25?"

"24," Ridley corrected, "I'll be 25 in a few months, mid December."

"December?" Freya asked and Caroline detected a distinct note of surprise in her voice that she disguised quickly by continuing, "Either way, that's a _long_ time suppress the full weight of your magic. In Hope and myself, our powers began appearing as babies, not in adolescence."

"I've tried to practice before though," Ridley admitted, "This isn't the first time I've been told that gaining control would make it easier to handle. But every time I've tried before, it's gotten out of hand…"

Her eyes flashed sideways to Caroline and the blonde realized that she wasn't quite sure what Ridley was talking about.

"You needed a coven," Freya explained, "And one that was powerful enough to handle _you._ I bet none of the witches back in Chiang Mai were too eager to work with you more than once."

"I never tried, not even once," Ridley admitted. "People offered but… I was scared I could hurt them."

The story made Caroline's chest clench painfully. So Ridley had always known then? She'd always known that her power was greater? Why hadn't she said anything.

"You won't hurt us," Freya promised. "But we have a lot more time to learn the true extent of your power and master it, Ridley. Don't worry. I promise it will be an enjoyable journey. In the meantime, I have to confess that I sought you all out so late this evening for a different reason."

"Oh?" Caroline asked, "What's that?"

Freya looked hesitant but pressed ahead, "The _last_ thing I want to do is add anything else to your plate today but… I've been doing some research since our talk about the Triplets."

 _That_ made Caroline startle. She'd _just_ been thinking about Draime about things he used to say about magic. Hell, she hadn't had a private moment to truly revisit those memories yet. Hayato would encourage her to meditate later.

Freya must have sensed her emotions because she quickly reassured, "Well it's nothing about _them_ per se but, about that hurricane they caused? Back in the First Territory Wars?"

"What about it?" Caroline asked, still confused. Ridley was looking on with great interest.

"You said they harnessed the power of a lunar event right? The Triple Conjunction of Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter?" she confirmed. Caroline and Ridley both nodded. "Well, it appears that particular event is coming up on an anniversary in about three months at the end of December. It's been 150 years since the last aligning of the three planets, in fact. It will occur less than two weeks after Ridley's birthday, I'd expect."

Caroline _still_ looked flummoxed. Ridley jumped in for her, "So? What does that mean? What do you think is going to happen?"

"Well, _nothing_ is going to happen unless someone channels power from the event, of course," Freya explained. "But if there's a time for you to put an end to the mystery of what happened to those boys and find that last missing grimoire, this would probably be it."

"God you're right," Caroline replied, running a hand over the length of her face. _Shit, how did she lose track of the time like that?_ "We have _seriously_ too much going on right now. We'll have to address this after we get back from the farm in Salt Lake City."

"Yes, that was part of the reason I wanted to address this with you now," Freya said. "Hope mentioned part of what you discussed at The Waste. I wanted to see if your plans out there would potentially keep you busy through December."

"No," Caroline said, with no small amount of pride in her voice. "We need to gain some intel on the size of this thing but, even if it's been converted into a factory farm, it's never taken me longer than two weeks to get one completely shut down. Once you get in, you can sometimes take them down in a few hours… plus, now I'll have hybrids on my side."

"Good, because I do not think taking advantage of this anniversary is something we should pass up," Ridley added. Caroline was a mess of conflicted emotions — at once happy because Ridley was finally taking an interest in her ancestry but still anxious. She couldn't shake the feeling of unease about what Ridley had said about not even needing to _try_ to focus to use her magic. So what would happen if she _did_ focus then?

Caroline shook her head. She had to learn to trust Ridley; it was just hard given how long she'd displayed _no_ interest in this. Things were suddenly seeming to move at warp speed. So, she changed the subject.

"There's a lot we'll have to put off to take care of this farm. I'll admit that I was looking forward to digging into your lab notes further," Caroline lamented. "You've managed to keep infected patients — wolves and humans alike — alive while undergoing trials for over a hundred years."

"Yeah, we've long since understood that the disease has the strange side effect of prolonging life well over a hundred years. We suspect wolves with the disease may be capable of suffering with it for centuries," Ridley interjected.

Freya nodded, understanding why they'd be impressed with their labs. In Hope's private labs they had two of the oldest infected wolves on the planet, "Well I guess we know we're already at 175 for the oldest recorded with the disease. Just about anyway."

"What? I didn't see any documentation of that…" Caroline trailed off, confused at where that very specific number had come from. Hope had shown her old wolves… one as old as 121, in fact, but none encroaching on _two centuries._

The words were out before Freya had a chance to think them through… she'd always been the quickest to speak of her siblings, blame it on a millennia spent only interacting with your psycho aunt save once every hundred years. Sometimes she didn't think enough before she spoke.

"I thought Hope showed you the labs?" Freya asked before she seemed to realize what she was asking and began to try to cover up her mistake. "I mean, I know she and Nik both did. Perhaps she didn't show you our records for packs we've tracked through the desert."

"No, she did," Caroline prompted.

"Oh, then I suppose you didn't have time to see everything…"

"Freya? What aren't you telling us?" Ridley asked, looking at the other witch with an authoritative expectancy that made Caroline proud. So what if Ridley's first steps into magic had only been a location spell so far? She'd gotten them _coordinates_ and Caroling knew very well how impressive that was. Not to mention, she had been able to read the Mikaelson family's awe of the accomplishment the moment she and Klaus were told of it.

Sure enough, Freya was looking at Ridley like she both wasn't someone to be crossed and like Ridley was someone with whom she intended to keep working. Freya didn't want to lose her trust before she'd even gained it.

If Ridley _really_ wanted to, she was likely powerful enough to read the truth off of Freya just from touching her. Ridley had never made a distinct effort to push through her thoughts, emotions, or memories when they'd accidentally — or, in Freya's case, frequently on purpose — touched and began to read one another, though. Freya wasn't sure if it was out of respect or because she didn't know that she could control it.

"Look, there _is_ something you don't know," Freya sighed, deciding to just admit it. "But I'm afraid it's not my secret to share. You'll have to ask Hope but… please, this is a delicate subject for her."

"Freya, seriously?" Caroline asked. "After everything we've been through today and you've _just_ told us, you're going to leave us with that?"

Freya looked truly apologetic but she was steadily backing out of the room.

"I'm sorry, I really am," she said. "It's nothing to worry about, I can say that. She'll tell you in time if you're willing to wait..."

Just then, her attention was diverted by someone coming into the main entrance of their suite.

"What are you all talking about so seriously in here?" a honeyed voice rang out.

"Nothing Nik, I was just leaving," Freya replied and dashed out of the suite.

Caroline gave Ridley and pointed look and the younger witch followed behind. She'd tackle Freya or maybe find Hope, while Caroline sought out what Klaus knew.

Klaus looked confused when Ridley brushed quickly past him as he made his way into their bedroom where Caroline was lounging amongst the pillows, looking much better and for all the world like an Indian princess laying there.

"Before I ask what all that was about," Klaus started. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Caroline told him. "All better, really. Thank you again, Klaus, I-"

He held up a hand to stop her, "Please, you've already expressed your gratitude," he said and walked over only take a seat next to her on the pillows, leaning on his side. _Besides_ , he thought, _she seemed to be missing the fundamental point that he'd done it without looking for her thanks. Without looking for anything but_ her. "So, what _was_ that all about?" Klaus asked, jerking his head toward the door where Freya and Ridley had just left.

As eager as Caroline was to get Klaus's side of this new mystery, she was now remembering they'd not yet had the chance to discuss what had occurred at The Waste. Currently, she was keeping a secret of her own.

"We'll get to that but… first I wanted to go over everything we talked about with the team at The Waste," Caroline said, her voice firm and serious.

Klaus immediately switched gears. He'd learned recently that, though she often used it as a tactic to evade more personal discussions, Klaus genuinely enjoyed discussing politics and strategy with Caroline perhaps more than he'd ever had with _anyone_ over the years, even Elijah. Caroline had so carefully catalogued and learned from her many experiences over the years that she'd gained a true wisdom. She was insightful and balanced — a perfect mix of compassionate but ruthless when necessary. Speaking of ruthlessness…

"So was our prediction right?" Klaus asked. "They want to take down a farm and they want your help?"

"Yes," she said, "There's one in Salt Lake City. They don't have much intel on it. They couldn't even categorize how big it was for me… I've taken down some Factory Farms before but it'd be nice to know ahead of time if that's what we're walking in to."

"I'll send out scouts first thing," Klaus assured her. They can be back with estimates in two days time at the most. I presume… you told them I would expect to be involved."

"I did," Caroline laughed, "But I most certainly didn't put it like that. I told them that you would offer your services in an effort to promote better relations between your towns in the future. But, as you can expect, their initial reaction was far less than positive. It was actually your daughter her won them over to the idea with some pretty shrewd debating skills. She'd make a great leader one day." Caroline recounted the logic that Hope had used with Ezra and Klaus began to smile warmly.

"Yes, well, Hope has been known to be rather difficult to win an argument with," he commented, looking a bit nostalgic.

Caroline smiled back at him before she began to fiddle with her hands nervously, "Although it wasn't _just_ Hope that brought around a better change in their will towards us…"

When she trailed off, Klaus met her gaze in suspicion, "Caroline?" he asked.

"I _may_ have told them that you' willing to give them one of the buildings in the city with electricity to relocate some of their people to," she admitted, immediately biting her lip and bracing herself for Klaus's reaction.

He wasn't _pleased,_ that was for damn sure. They hadn't discussed this and Caroline had strictly promised him that she wouldn't talk about anything at The Waste other than that upon which they'd prior _damn_ had she picked the right time to tell him… not that she'd _picked_ to get stuck in that storm, Klaus knew. Either way he couldn't bring himself to get mad at her over it when he was still just so glad he'd gotten her back in one piece.

So, instead of doing anything Caroline expected, like yelling, Klaus ran a tired hand over his features before saying, "Well, I suppose I'll have to scrounge something up then."

Caroline could sense his discomfort with the idea and was almost feeling guilty that his reaction was so placid.

"They'll be expecting us to hold up that end of the bargain even more after that sandstorm," Caroline said, wincing when she could _still_ hear it raging against their windows outside. Whoever Klaus sent out to scout Salt Lake City would have to wait until this had finished.

"Indeed, we should expect so," Klaus replied, his eyes sparkling just at her simple use of the word 'us.' There truly was no use getting mad about this development, he'd shove it onto Elijah or Rebekah as a problem to figure out. "So? You promised to tell me what all that was about with Freya and Ridley a moment ago?"

"Oh, yeah…" Caroline said still kind of in shock at how easily he was brushing past the building thing, "Freya mentioned something strange, Klaus. We were talking about the labs and she mentioned having wolves coming up on 175 years old at least documented by you all. _Then_ she said she thought Hope had showed us the labs… she just started getting really flustered and suspicious so we called her out on it and she told us that Hope had some kind of secret but it was Hope's to tell."

Klaus look frustrated in earnest now but now with Caroline. She could sense it was with Freya. She pressed ahead anyway, using her token I'm-a-parent-too card.

"I don't know if you have any idea what she'd be talking about but, if my daughter was keeping some kind of secret about ancient rabid wolves, I'd want to know," Caroline finished softly.

"I know," Klaus answered her. "I know all too well what Freya was talking about. But she's right that it's Hope's story to tell-"

"-One I've been putting off, I'm afraid," Hope's voice rang out. As if on cue, appearing back in the doorway of their suite was Ridley alongside Hope. "I figure I owe you an explanation. After what happened today and everything you'll be doing for Ezra to take down that farm, you've earned the full truth."

Klaus held out and arm, beckoning for his daughter to join him sitting down. He wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder when she did. He knew this was a very painful topic for her to broach with anyone.

Ridley was still watching on leaning in the doorway when Hope started, "Not only do we have two wolves coming up on 175 years old now _documented,_ we have them contained here in the hotel. They were some of the first wolves ever to be infected when the disease mutated and hit the packs in 2046."

"You have wolves from the first outbreak?" Caroline asked, astonished. "Hope that's the farthest back access we've ever had to the start of the virus! Where were they? Why didn't we see them?"

"You didn't see them because they're kept in a private sick bay," Hope explained. "And you didn't see them because I keep this a pretty closely guarded secret… and also because it's just hard for me to think about and deal with…"

Klaus squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and Hope closed her eyes before finishing, "But there's no reason to keep this from you anymore. Caroline, if you're feeling up to a short trip down to the basement, you might not want to take Ridley but… I think it's time I introduced you to my little brother."

* * *

 _ **So, LoveOfAVampire asked to know the pronunciation of Draime. It is not like Jaime, actually but good guess! Rather it is pronounced like the word "drain" but with an m. It's peculiar and kind of funny and it takes some getting used to but…. uh, let's just say it's pretty pivotal to his character and that's all I can say about it without giving anything away.**_

 _ **A sharp eye might remember that the the lunar event was initially written as an alignment between Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. That was a mistake; it was always supposed to be Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter so I went back to chapter 15 to change that.**_

 _ **As for the latest bomb drop… Hope has a brother, huh? Well there's only two ways**_ **that** _ **could have happened and, before anyone gets outraged, I promise I went with the palatable choice. Like, a son is**_ **not** _ **the type of thing that Klaus would both keep hidden from Caroline and also portray as solely "Hope's secret," for lack of a better term. And who else is being kept down there? Rest assured that Hayley really and truly is dead as dead can be.**_

 _ **Next chapter, they'll also be off to Salt Lake City! I promised we'd get more of the world outside Klaus and Caroline's respective cities and, trust me, it's gonna get crazier. Who do you think we might run into once we're out of Vegas and back to taking down other Big Bads? Anyone you miss? ;) Reviews, faves, and follows are all appreciated!**_


	19. Recon

" _It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons,"_ \- Friedrich Schiller

 _ **19**_

 _ **Recon**_

After dropping the bomb that there was yet another family member of Hope's to which Caroline had not yet had the pleasure of being introduced, Hope had somberly led them all — sans Ridley, of course, who wouldn't be invited to see any rabid wolves until Caroline had checked how securely they were contained — down from the upper levels of the hotel into several floors beneath the lobby into a surprisingly deep basement.

On the way down, with Klaus and Freya both tagging along for moral support, Hope explained that what she meant by "brother" was technically half-brother… though it was very clear that she'd never see him as anything less than a complete sibling.

"My mother married the alpha of New Orleans wolfpack called the Crescent Clan," Hope explained when they hopped off the elevator at the lowest floor — which Hope had needed a key to even get down to — and made their way down a dimly lit concrete hallway. "Then, 15 years later, they had their own son together."

They were approaching another huge metal banking vault, one even bigger than they had for their labs upstairs and likely ripped from another one of the former glorious casinos of the city. It was surrounded by half a dozen hybrid guards with guns, all of whom immediately parted at the sight of the three Mikaelsons approaching with Caroline trailing behind. Hope pressed the palm of her hand against a sensor and then allowed her retina to be scanned through a peephole in the heavy metal door. In a final step, she quietly breathed out the words " _Familia supra omnia,"_ before the gears of the massive safe began to twist of their own volition, apparently only able to be unlocked after hearing Hope's personal twist on _open sesame._

She led them into what was less a lab and more a traditional hospital clean room. Blinding white tile walls made up the small antechamber Caroline stood in with her three companions. At the far side of the room, one wall was a sturdy piece of glass, enclosing a typical looking hospital room with two diseased men lying side by side on gurneys. Equipment and IVs were hooked into their limbs as monitors continuously took readings on their health.

The frail teenage boy and middle-aged man lying in front of them behind glass were practically unidentifiable as rabid wolves aside from the tumors riddled throughout their poor bodies. Infected wolves were in almost constant state of rabid agitation, but Hope had informed Caroline that Freya had worked out a spell with her to essentially keep these two in an unaging coma.

It took Hope a moment, staring sadly but resolutely through the thick pane of glass to where the rest of her family was catatonic. But finally, she collected herself enough to finish explaining.

"On the right, that's my step-father, Jackson," Hope explained quietly. "He married my mother to help break a curse over their pack, it's kind of a complicated story… anyway, he was one of the very first infected wolves, after the disease mutated. It was so new to wolves at the time that it took us awhile to figure out what was even wrong with him…"

Caroline's researching ears perked up at that bit of information. As sad as Hope clearly was discussing this issue — not to mention how legitimately tragic it was, seeing her stand before family she hadn't been able to speak to in nearly 200 years — at the end of the day, Caroline's number one goal was to cure the disease. Never having met wolves this old, much less from the first outbreak of the disease onto the packs, she knew that Hope and her family could provide her with valuable information about how C-Flu had first manifested itself in wolf packs.

That thought was cut off quickly, though, when Hope began to speak again.

"And next to my step-father… that's Teddy. My younger brother," she said. "He was only 18 when he caught C-Flu from his pack. I had been trying to convince him for months to let me turn him into a hybrid… and I think I was pretty close to getting him to come around but I never ultimately got the chance. The second he started showing signs of the disease, Freya put him under the same spell as Jackson and we've kept them under lock and key ever since."

Caroline nodded, quietly inspecting the young boy laying before her. Beneath the bulbous masses snaking their way across his body under his skin, she could make out a tall but slight and wiry frame and a mop of chestnut brown hair. Other than that, she had no means of telling what Teddy actually looked like. She'd have to ask Hope to see some pictures.

Klaus put his arm around Hope, pulling her close to his side when he saw her eyes begin to gloss over looking at her brother.

Sensing a depressing silence fall over them, Freya interjected next: "It's another long story, but I gained my own immortality as a witch from a spell my aunt once put on me… I can give you the details on _that_ harrowing tail another day but, suffice it to say, I used a sort-of knock-off spell to put Jackson and Teddy under all this time. They won't age until we wake them and their disease won't progress either."

Again, the part of Caroline that was completely dedicated to her research couldn't hide her interest. If the disease hadn't progressed in these two patients all this time, they could potentially donate some of the most useful samples of infected blood they'd ever had access to, to date. Hope, ever astute, clearly noticed her interest.

"So you can see why I didn't tell you about them right away," Hope said, lifting her face from where she buried it into her father's chest for a brief moment of comfort. "They're my family. And having them poked and prodded for research that can easily be done on other infected patients is unequivocally _not_ an option."

"Of course," Caroline answered immediately and Hope visibly relaxed which, in turn, made Caroline extremely guilty. The fact was, she was lying through her teeth and she very much intended to persuade Hope to change her mind… eventually.

Right now, Caroline needed to count her blessings that Hope was trusting her enough to share this with her at all. Jumping on Hope to pepper her with arguments in favor of testing would only damage the trust they'd built with one another.

Hope was very much mistaken if she thought any other patients would be just as useful to their research as Jackson or Teddy. There was no besting samples from some of the first waves of the disease to infect the packs. Logically, Hope was more than smart enough to know that. She'd clearly gone to great lengths to convince herself otherwise, likely out of depression at the thought of being faced with her family's comatose bodies too frequently. And Klaus, clearly making Hope's comfort his main priority after all these years, had shockingly become something of a pushover parent.

With that in mind, Caroline resolved to talk to Klaus about it first. Surely when she explained to him that the research may very well lead to _curing_ both Jackson and Teddy, he'd realize that would ultimately bring his daughter much greater happiness than keeping them guarded in a glass case for all eternity like an even further twisted spin on _Snow White…_

Then again maybe not. They weren't _his_ family, after all. Either Klaus was just trying to keep Hope happy or he didn't much care to have the two wolves back to normal.

Either way, they didn't need to discuss it now.

"Thank you, Hope," Caroline said. "Thank you for showing me this. I know it must have been hard for you and… we don't have to talk about it until you're ready."

Hope nodded quietly, pulling away from her father slightly. She swept away a few stray tears before acknowledging the three of them again.

"Thanks for understanding," she said. "And if you don't mind… I think I'd like a little time alone down here. It's been too long since I've come to visit."

* * *

Freya took her cue to leave Caroline and Klaus to themselves rather quickly after that and Caroline followed Klaus back upstairs almost on autopilot, not sure what to say. Though Caroline was more than sympathetic to Hope's pain, it was true that she'd become rather hardened to loss over the centuries. Everyone still alive at this point had experienced more than a "fair share" of trauma and loss so it was difficult for her to view Hope's situation as particularly special.

Caroline wanted to research those wolves. That was the crux of it.

Eventually, she broke out of her own quiet thoughts enough to realize that Klaus was leading her back to his room. One glance over to Klaus's serious and grim features, though, was enough to let Caroline know that he was still smarting from seeing his daughter and pain and likely had some things he wanted to discuss now.

 _So, pushover parent prioritizing his daughter's immediate happiness it is, then,_ Caroline theorized to herself internally.

Once past all the security and safely tucked inside his massive quarters, Klaus mutely made his way over to his bar to pour them both his customary offering of good bourbon. Caroline accepted the glass he held out to her and this time took a seat at one of his bar stools rather than on the couches. Klaus remained standing opposite her on the other side of the bar, downing his own drink quickly before pouring himself another.

"So," he began after a slower sip of his second drink, "You want to do research on them."

 _Well, just jumping right in then,_ Caroline thought after a brief beat of surprise.

"Klaus, surely you know as well as anyone else that the earlier the infected samples are from, the more useful they are," Caroline tested carefully first.

"Closer to patient zero and all that," Klaus answered, not sarcastically but his tone hard and resolved all the same.

"Exactly," she returned, her eyes locked on him for any sign of what he was thinking.

He didn't respond, not right away. Caroline sipped at her bourbon almost self-consciously and resisted the urge to get fighty. Even with the patience she'd learned after all this time, she never actively _enjoyed_ extended periods of uncomfortable silence. When he did finally look up at her again, it wasn't to discuss research.

"Hope aged slowly," Klaus said. "So much so that it was very difficult for her to have friends growing up. She was constantly torn between her mental age and the effects of being stuck in a much younger body."

"That's something we all have to learn to deal with as vampires," Caroline murmured.

"Certainly," Klaus agreed, "But Hope experienced it to a different and much more profound degree. When she was 12 she could have passed for 7 and she didn't even look 12 until she turned 28. Theodore was one of the first people in her life that she really connected to and formed a friendship with."

"But isn't she technically 15 years older than him?" she asked.

Klaus shrugged, "Yes, she is. And while Theodore was very young, she primarily only looked after him as a big sister. But, he turned out to be a shockingly mature child. While he was _actually_ growing up, Hope was already grown up but didn't look much older at all. It wasn't uncommon for the two of them to pretend to be only a few years apart on the few occasions they had to interact with humans uninformed of the supernatural world. They became very close as time went on."

"You sound fond of him," Caroline noted.

"I was. He made Hope happy."

"No… that's not only it. You miss him too, don't you?"

Klaus paused for another beat before sighing and pouring Caroline her own second drink.

"...Teddy," he said then, using the boy's nickname over ' _Theodore'_ for the first time, "Was very special. In many ways he reminded me a great deal of someone I knew long ago. My own brother, in fact."

"Finn?" Caroline asked, perplexed, unable to think of anyone else missing from their clan.

"No, my youngest brother. Henrik. Lost to us a long time ago, right before my mother turned us."

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Klaus, I didn't know about that," Caroline said, trying to hold his gaze while Klaus continued to studiously stare down the bar. He waved her off.

"It was so long ago now it almost seems like a legend of my own mind," he answered lowly. "Until Teddy came back to remind me of him…" Abruptly Klaus let out a short bark of a humorless laugh and continued, "For being the spawn of Hayley and _Jackson,_ of all people, he was an alarmingly sweet child. He made it rather difficult _not_ to grow fond of him… especially when Hope cared so much for him."

"And you keep saying 'was,' using the past tense," she said. "Why? He's still alive right here in your home."

"Not all of us are as optimistic about curing the disease as you, Caroline."

Caroline nodded mutely. So here was where the conversation had led. Klaus cared for Theodore but he also didn't believe they would cure the disease…

"You don't want research done on them either, is that what you're getting at?" Caroline asked.

Klaus shrugged. "I don't want Theodore uselessly poked and prodded at anymore than Hope does," he admitted, noticeably leaving Jackson out of the equation. Caroline doubted Hope would have, though. "I don't want you doing anything we've already tried."

She couldn't help but perk up at that. Sharply she redirected her gaze from her bourbon to his eyes. That sounded like a pretty major caveat.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if you come to me with something new, an idea for a cure that you've never tested before…" he said slowly, "I'll help you test it on Jackson all you like."

Caroline opened her mouth, preparing to enthusiastically reply but also pepper him with questions — namely what _Hope_ might make of this offer — when a sudden sharp buzzing alarm rang from Klaus's door. The sound was enough to make Caroline jump but Klaus looked nonplussed as he made his way to the door only to press a button that lit up a screen showing a view of the door outside where several hybrids were.

"Yes?" Klaus asked into his own camera.

"You're team is back from Salt Lake City," one of the hybrids answered. "They've got the recon of the farm you asked for."

"Excellent," Klaus replied. "Have them set up in the library." Without another word he switched off the video feed and turned back to Caroline. "Shall we?"

* * *

Before joining Klaus in the library to learn about this farm in Salt Lake, Caroline went in search of Ridley. She hadn't quite decided on whether or not the young witch would be joining them on this trek to shut down another human blood farm but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have her present for this discussion on what Klaus's hybrids had discovered.

Presently, she was more concerned with having to evade Ridley's questions when she found her. Undoubtedly, Ridley would want to know what Hope had shown them but everyone had made it abundantly clear by now that this was only Hope's story to tell. Fortunately, as she searched for her daughter, she discovered that Hope had likely already gotten around to doing just that.

Caroline had bumped into Elijah on her way to find Ridley and he told her he believed she was with Hope. He offered to accompany her to his niece's room. Caroline had never been to Hope's room before and she agreed to his offer to accompany her there.

"Be forewarned Ms. Forbes," Elijah began, his use of _Ms._ not going unnoticed, "I believe you've noticed by now that most of the pyramid that has been drastically remodified since its days as a hotel. We all have picked our areas and remade them for our own purposes. But Hope's quarters in particular have a tendency to take some people aback."

He sounded amused as he warned her about whatever impending extravagance faced them so Caroline only grinned back good-naturedly, excited to see what the unusual girl had created for herself.

The huge double door entrance to Hope's room was wide opened as they approached her suite, clearly one of the biggest in the pyramid as much of the corridor they were traveling down was void of entrance to any rooms other than Hope's. Some classical piece that Caroline vaguely recognized was blasting dramatically from the room and it smelled suspiciously of… Jeremy Gilbert's room in high school.

Elijah saw her sniff the air disapprovingly and chuckled. He held out a hand gesturing for her to enter first.

She stepped into an enormous space. The entryway to the suite was overcrowded with dozens upon dozens of strange and beautiful animal sculptures — an enormous life sized giraffe, a huge wood-carved rhino, and a bedazzled purple lion among the extremely vast collection. There was no open wall space as everything was covered from floor to ceiling in canvases; she wondered if any of it was Klaus's work.

But Hope wasn't just living in one suite, like her father, she was living in several. In the main living area on the floor they'd entered in, a charming old-fashioned wire spiral staircase wove up from the floor and up to the ceiling… or what was left of the ceiling. Most of the ceiling to Hope's entryway had been completely removed to let you see into the floors above where she was also living out of the suites two floors above her, each connected by the spiral staircase.

The modification to connect the three floors had been done stylishly and much of the structural integrity of the building had been left in the now open air space so that the elegant metal beams that used to support the floors separating the suites were exposed. And Hope was not a sparse decorator. Hanging from the beams, covering almost every inch of them, was everything from dozens of pinatas to strands of twinkling holiday lights to literally _thousands_ of shimmering Mardi Gras beads — a beautiful reminder of her old life in New Orleans. Hanging in between many of the well decorated beams were several hammocks made from brightly colored cloth.

"Wow…" Caroline breathed out. Taken aback, sure but, she was also kind of in love. She did a circle to look at her surroundings on their current floor. To her left, they knocked out part of the walls to the old suite to put in a small kitchen, which was heavily decked out in neon Vegas advertizing signs… mostly of the erotic variety. Above Hope's fridge a sign flashed in repetition _Girls! Girls! Girls!_ On the tile backsplash made entirely of tiny mirrors that reflected the neon lights almost eerily, another sign was hung where a neon woman's naked breasts would comically light up over and over again.

"They may be in here," Elijah said, beckoning to their right where he led her into a room that was set up as a makeshift smoking lounge. A movie projector was set up directed at a large sheet hanging from one wall. The room was empty though.

They walked back out to the entryway, straining to listen but, honestly, the music was blaring too loudly. Finally Elijah let his composure slip for just a second so he could bark "Hope! Would you kindly turn that _down!"_

The music was lowered instantly and, from two floors above them Hope called out " _Sorry!"_ and they heard Ridley giggle.

"I know you have a fondness for Mendelssohn but that volume was a bit excessive," he called out, a smile in his tone. "Might we come up?"

"We?" Hope called back.

"Hey!" Caroline called out.

"Come up!" Hope and Ridley called back in unison.

They walked up the winding staircase at a normal pace so that Caroline could admire Hope's decorating. Each level had been repurposed for different uses… music rooms, small libraries, areas for having tea or mixing drinks. And every inch of space was covered in _something._ Hope's walls were completely overloaded with art and objects alike. And from anywhere something could hang you would find beads and lighting or ribbons and tassels. Hope decorated her rooms like she was a freaking fairy princess, Caroline realized, and she loved it.

Finally they reached the top floor where Hope and Ridley were actually sitting together outside on Hope's balcony which included a small private hottub of all things. Hope was relaxing in the tub while Ridley lounged in a chair next to her while flipping through an old looking Grimoire. It looked like the earlier evening's drama was finally done with though Caroline knew should we have to check in with Ridley to find out exactly whatever Hope had explained to her about her remaining wolf pack family.

"Hope, your room looks like it was decorated by fairies," Caroline told her as they approached.

Hope grinned, "Thanks, I call it my Unicorn Palace. What've you been up to?"

"Just talking to your Dad," Caroline replied, "About the trip to Salt Lake and everything… the hybrids your dad sent out for recon are back and they're setting up a report for us in the library."

Hope rose immediately from the hot tub, "Alright, you guys head on down without me, I'll get dried off and changed and be down in a second."

Ridley and nodded before stepping off the balcony to head back down the stairs with Caroline, Elijah close behind them. Once they were a bit more out of the way, Caroline mouthed a silent question to Ridley — _did she tell you?_ Ridley nodded solemnly in reply.

Caroline breathed out a quiet sigh of relief while Elijah continued to watch quietly and politely from behind her. She tried to ignore how Ridley's eyes kept flicking over her shoulder to him every so often. Once out of Hope's room and walking down the hallways to the library, he picked up pace to walk right beside her and the tension between them became so thick that it took all of Caroline's willpower to keep herself in check and not embarrass Ridley by saying something.

Still, as the two made polite conversation with each other, Caroline found it difficult to hide the distaste in her voice. _Ridley is an adult_ , Caroline had to coach herself again, _She can make her own decisions._ But right as that mantra settled her down, another thought would flare up, _doesn't mean you still can't tell her your concerns about Elijah…_ namely that Elijah had just as much of a romantic history as any of his brothers did. And that, also like the great loves of his family members throughout time, the women Elijah fancied had a tendency to end up dead.

Entering the library finally, the whole Mikaelson clan sans Hope was seated around a table waiting, and that included Kol. At the sight of the _other_ brother interested in Ridley — who didn't even bother to disguise the flirtatious grin he flashed her when she entered — Caroline let out an annoyed huff through her nose. She did _not_ need to be turning into an overly protective parent right now…

"Hope should be down in a moment," Elijah explained, "She's just getting changed."

Klaus nodded as they took their seats around the table and he gestured for the hybrids standing at the far end of the library with a projector to begin their presentation. The lights flicked off and the machine came on, lighting up a large screen dangling from the ceiling before projecting the image of the aerial view of some buildings.

The first thing Caroline could see was that this farm was in the heart of the former city. On either side of the building the aerial shot was centered on, miles and miles of city blocks stretched out to each corner of the photo. Even from this bird's-eye view, you could tell the city was abandoned. More than half of the blocks in the photo were scarred by the telltale charring trace of the former blaze of the inferno. What looked like entire large neighborhoods in the city had been flattened into not much more than pure inky black charcoal. Each successive photo they flashed between showed signs of smoke, as well, meaning much of the area was still smoldering. You could just barely make out the faint pattern of a grid beneath all that ash and char, the crisscrossing of the old city streets.

The slideshow of aerial shots began to zoom in on one building in particular, though, amongst a grouping of blocks that appeared to have miraculously avoided the inferno when it had swept through Salt Lake. As everyone examined the photos they were being shown quietly, the doors to the library opened a final time and Hope finally joined them around the table, taking a seat between Rebekah and Kol.

"In a kind of sick twist of irony," the hybrid briefing them began in an uncomfortable tone, "This is where the farm is set up. In the heart of Salt Lake, in the former famous Salt Lake Temple."

Kol spoke up first, "That enormous Mormon temple?"

The hybrid nodded before pulling out an old book — an old travel guide to Salt Lake City, actually, and Caroline wondered where he'd picked it up. He thumbed it open to a particular page and then handed it to Klaus at the head of the table to be passed around.

"Yes," the hybrid answered, "Here's a picture of what it used to look like. I'm sure you'll all recognize it. We've got more shots from the drones we sent over that confirm it isn't in that great of shape anymore, as you might expect but, most of the structure still stands relatively unharmed. We think it was likely a city ordinance to attempt to keep the inferno away from spiritually sacred parts of the city when they first attempted to cleanse the area of the disease. That's likely why it's been appropriated by vamps for their farm today, it's one of the few remaining usable parts of the city."

"How big is it?" Caroline asked.

"The temple itself? Taller than it is large. It serves as a strong fortress based upon the height alone but it also had an audience capacity of some 8,000 people back when it was in use for worship. Obviously that number decreases somewhat radically when you take into account how much space is needed when a building is being used for living quarters and blood farming.." the hybrid trailed off.

"Do you have estimates for its inhabitants today?" Klaus asked.

"Based upon the activity we monitored current estimates include a total population of 300 at a two to three human to vampire ratio," the hybrid answered.

This wasn't ideal. Small farm operations ranged from a single greedy vamp horder to a handful of families working to keep a few humans as slaves. More middling operations kept humans into the dozens. But anytime vampires were keeping humans in populations of above a hundred, Caroline considered that a factory farming situation. They were much harder to shut down…

"While I was doing population estimates, Jack led a team to gather weapons and security intel…"

He gestured for a second muscled hybrid to step before them and begin covering the next section of everything they'd learned about the farm they'd been facing. Klaus's men were incredibly efficient and well trained and Caroline settled in knowing they'd have a lot more to go through. Not to mention, after that, they'd have to strategize and plan their trip. She'd have to address whether or not Ridley would be joining them. And someone would need to fill in Ezra and the rest at the Waste so they could pool their own resources for the trip.

Caroline glanced over to Ridley who was watching the whole slideshow of military precision quality images enthralled and sighed. Okay, _someone_ definitely already wanted to join them…

As the recon presentation progressed, though, Caroline's anxiety increased. It was an incredibly sophisticated operation they were looking to infiltrate. It would be a dangerous commitment. The grim expression on Klaus's face suggested he was thinking similarly but she doubted either of them would be able to talk either Ridley or Hope out of this. Not to mention, they needed Hope with them to basically serve as an ambassador between her father and her friends at the Waste.

Her attention flitted effortlessly between the hybrids filling them in and her own worries for quite some time before they finally said something that snapped both Caroline and Klaus back to full attention, though.

"Finally… we stopped at your stockade in Provo but, it appears to have been infiltrated," the first hybrid finished, his tone nervous.

" _What?"_ Klaus snapped.

At that exact moment Caroline asked, "Stockade?" curiously.

Elijah turned to explain to her first, "We have safe houses, shelters, and weapons stockades stashed across the country," he began.

"Provo is a small town outside of Salt Lake," Klaus continued, "We have weapons stashed there in case we ever need to leave Vegas for any reason and head north… or we _did."_

"Provo appears to be completely abandoned from what we could tell," the hybrid said, "But when we stopped to take inventory of what weapons had been stashed in the town, the building had been broken into. Everything was gone."

" _Shit,"_ Klaus cursed under his breath; this meant they'd have to _carry_ all their weapons with them for most of the journey. "We'll stop in Provo on the way up. I need to see this for myself."

One of the many things that Klaus Mikaelson had never learned to tolerate over the years was being stolen from. And considering he hid and protected his things extremely well, whoever stole from him would then place themselves in the incredibly unfortunate position of being considered a possible threat. Anything that threatened Klaus was quickly eliminated…

Suddenly his interest in meeting these Salt Lake vampires and taking them down intensified quite dramatically.

* * *

 _ **Hey everyone! First of all, HUGE SHOUT OUT to queenvampirebarbie on tumblr for this incredibly awesome new cover she made for Inferno. She made it awhile back and I forgot to replace the image I'd been using with her awesomeness a few updates ago. Thank you again! I love it so much! I could seriously look at it forever.**_

 _ **Second of all so, so, so sorry for the delay! After everything going on and finally getting back into the swing of writing… I broke my arm and needed to get surgery! I've only finally today been feeling good enough to type so I quickly finished the chapter I'd started over a month ago when my injury happened. Hope you're still with me!**_ _ **Any typos can be attributed to my relearning to type. I'll be going back to do a better edit in a few hours.**_

 _ **Planning to continue to spend the day writing though I'm not quite sure where to start next. I know a lot of people are anxious for updates on The Mikaelsons and my chapters for Wrecked are short and quick to get out but, since I left you hanging so long here in Inferno… I kinda want to pump out another chapter. Not to mention, next chapter we will obviously be leaving Vegas for a little bit. Seeing different areas of this post-apocalyptic world has been probably my favorite part about writing this fic so I'm excited to take us somewhere new for a little bit. And who knows who else could show up? ;)**_

 _ **Still no new update for Demeter's Daughter quite yet but, rest assured, the ending to that fic is percolating in my brain as I write this.**_

 _ **Please drop a note if I haven't lost you! This chapter what had a lot of what I call "logistic plot points" but over the next two chapters we'll be right back into thick of some more action and crazy cliffhangers.**_


	20. Provo

_**RECAP: KCFOREVER mentioned that it had been awhile between updates so a recap might be helpful and I agreed! I'll have these at the start of every chapter I think it's necessary for but feel free to skip if you prefer to keep all the little details in mind yourself as you read. There are very small things posted in some chapters that will blow up into bigger things in later chapters… reading the recaps will help you keep those little things in mind but they could**_ **potentially** _ **take away from the shock-value of certain reveals. I'll try not to be too blatant about anything that's supposed to be a surprise and definitely no spoilers.**_

 _ **So, the actual recap! Several chapters ago, Klaus couldn't keep his temper in check at the Waste, killed some people, and got himself and Caroline banned from coming back. Going to negotiate some sort of apology and peace treaty, Caroline and Hope learned that there was a major vampire-run blood farm operating out of Salt Lake City that Ezra and the vampires of the Waste intend to take down. They'll negotiate some form of peace with Klaus and uplift their ban on Caroline from returning... if they help take down the farm. Caroline quickly agrees because she has a history of shutting down blood farms already and because she doesn't want to be banned from the research they've been doing at the Waste. Klaus agrees because when it comes to Hope and Caroline, (particularly in combination), he's a pushover. Caroline also negotiated for Klaus to give the residents of the Waste one building with electricity in the city to use. Finally, in planning for their trip to the farm, Klaus has been alerted that one of his many weapons stockades in the Salt Lake area has been ransacked.**_

* * *

" _I want you here. I don't care if it's a hundred degrees and every blade of grass dies. Without you, none of that matters to me." ―_ _Kami Garcia_

 _ **Provo**_

 _ **20**_

It was close to a week before they finally left for Salt Lake. Getting Ezra and her team up to speed in the days after their first reconnaissance report took some considerable time. As it turned out, exactly only five vampires from the ragtag population of the Waste had military experience. Relaying everything they'd learned about the farm and its threats to these few people plus Ezra and Vale had taken more hours than expected. It made Caroline balk at the idea that anyone from the Waste had been prepared to try to take down the operation on their own and without her help.

When they'd come to negotiate and strategize for the trip, Vale had seemed relatively comfortable walking into the Luxor. He'd visited Hope there many times before, even if it had been in secret. Ezra and her five military companions, however, had a difficult time hiding their flummoxed expressions when being invited in for the first time. It had been so long since they'd been out of the desert — or even _in_ a real building for that matter — that the size and immaculate state of the lobby seemed to put them almost on edge.

Though it appeared they'd made _some_ effort to clean themselves up for this trip, they were still heavily covered in the telltale red dust of the desert. Caroline couldn't help but feel nervous on their behalf, seeing them look so out of place all soot and sand as they crossed Klaus's pristine marble floors. To his credit, though, Klaus wasn't putting on any kind of display of disgust or distaste or any other general form of disrespect. His demeanor was just cool enough to come off as quietly authoritative and intimidating.

Ezra was the first to approach Klaus, diplomatically sticking out her hand with a grim face before saying, "Thanking you for your support on this mission, Klaus. We're interested to see what you've found out about the farm in Salt Lake."

Hope, Caroline, and Vale all let out collective sighs of relief that had Ezra and Klaus both turning around to look at them in surprised annoyance. It was actually comical, the way their two expressions mirrored each other, looking at their companions in a silent question — _What? You think we can't behave together?_ Before Caroline could laugh, Klaus redirected his attention back to Ezra and accepted her outstretched hand in a firm but brief handshake.

"Of course," Klaus responded. "If there is any way for our two communities to make amends, I'm happy to oblige. There's no reason we shouldn't be able to work together amicably."

Ezra's tight smile was a perfect indication of what bullshit they all knew this was. Klaus would have been more than content to annihilate the Waste entirely if it hadn't been for Hope and Caroline's interference. But Ezra was smart enough to realize that a begrudging truce was better than no truce at all… particularly if Caroline would come through on her offer to get them a real building with electricity to live in within the city limits. So Ezra bit her tongue and didn't voice her reservations.

Thus, they'd all dutifully followed Klaus to a meeting room and listened for nearly seven hours discussing all the information on the farm they currently had. Then the week's worth of preparation had ensued…

Ultimately, one of the first things they decided was that Ridley would not be joining them. For the first half of their trip, the climate made sandstorms too pressing a concern for Ridley to join them. The latter half of the trip was no better. Up north, the Inferno, once-meant to wipe out C-Flue, was still wildly blazing in Utah. A human could never withstand those fires. Ridley had tirelessly argued her case against being left behind but, eventually settled down when she realized her ranting wasn't getting her anywhere.

Beyond that, they settled on the other final members of their party: Caroline, Klaus, Hope, Vale, and Ezra... plus three of the two military vets of the Waste. Kol, Freya, and nearly three dozen of Klaus's hybrids would also be joining them. Elijah and Rebekah were elected to stay behind as the most reliable of their siblings. Typically, Freya would have been added into that equation but, the fact remained that they may need the spells of more than one powerful witch while they were in Salt Lake.

Caroline was briefly concerned at the idea of Ridley being left alone with Elijah so long but finally decided it was the lesser of two evils. She could trust her with Elijah over Kol any day of the week, right?

So, once it was decided, they began studiously mapping their route, studying the recent weather patterns, reexamining all their recon, and building their team of hybrids and collection of weapons.

Alongside all their planning, though, the plane Klaus had sent out to fetch Caroline and Ridley's things from Chiang Mai had finally returned. They had few personal effects to begin with and were more than content to borrow clothes from the Mikaelson women but, one extremely important crate had come back. It was Caroline's collection of Bennett grimoire's that she'd saved over the years.

Ridley had eagerly snatched them up, first digging into Bonnie's, anxious for the first time in her life to look back on the work of her ancestors. Caroline couldn't help but feel somewhat relaxed by the knowledge that, though Ridley was feeling left out on this trip, she now had something to steadily preoccupy her while they were gone.

And so their week of planning came to a close and it was finally time for them to begin their trip.

* * *

"Yes I'll be careful, no I won't go any further from the hotel than the pools, yes I'll always have someone out with me, no I won't test my limits in the sun annnnd…" Ridley began but forgot something on Caroline's list.

" _And_ you won't push your magic too hard while we're not here. Not without Freya or Hope to help guide you through it. You should practice some small things and Rebekah and Elijah will be able to tell you what's safe and what's not-" Caroline was a whirlwind of anxiety that Ridley knew she had to interrupt.

"Okay, okay, I _get_ it. I'll be careful, I promise. Shouldn't _I_ be the one demanding that of _you?"_ Ridley asked, reversing the situation quickly and easily. "You better come back unharmed and without taking so long that I'll worry!"

Her tone was half joking but half actually stern and it made Caroline smile sadly before pulling the girl into a tight hug. Currently it was very early morning, well before dusk, as they attempted to get out on the "road" of the desert before any possible sandstorms would hit. Most of them would be in one of three tanks they were taking, but a couple dozen of the majority of Klaus's hybrids joining them would be on bikes, in case the tanks drew too much attention and they needed to surround the farm more surreptitiously when they got there.

"Everything will be fine with me, Ridley. I'm an expert at this, remember?" Caroline asked, referring to her legacy at shutting down farms.

Only about a week into October, and still less than two weeks since they'd arrived from Chiang Mai, the Las Vegas air did not seem to be any cooler in the fall. Nevertheless, the hybrids preparing to take the bikes out ahead of them were wrapped up heavily in scarves and thick fabric to protect against the wind and sand. Ezra, Hope, and Vale appeared outside where they were waiting by the tanks next, looking like nothing but bundles of enthusiasm.

"You ready?" Hope asked her first thing when Caroline released Ridley from her embrace.

"To leave Ridley?" she asked. "Not really. But to shut down this farm, for sure."

Hope grinned, Ezra looking pleased behind her, "Great! And don't worry about Ridley, she'll be fine."

Suddenly the doors to where they were parked outside the Luxor slammed open in a whirlwind of stress as Klaus finally appeared with his hybrids, giving orders a mile a minute.

"If we're lucky, we can make it to Provo before this afternoon. We'll stop there for the night," they heard Klaus say.

"Provo?" Caroline asked, "We're not just heading straight to the farm in Salt Lake?"

She and Klaus had endured a peculiar week with one another… peculiar in how comfortable it had been. Both so focused on strategizing, Caroline had felt lucky to avoid any further romantic overtures. _(And sometimes not so lucky, she had to begrudgingly admit.)_

Nevertheless, Klaus Mikaelson had never proved to be one to let others have much input on his plans when she'd known him so many years before. But, this past week, Klaus had treated Caroline's advice as rightly invaluable. She'd ended up dictating well more than half their plans for the trip based on her expertise in shutting farms down. It had felt… _good._ It had felt inexplicably _right_ to stand by Klaus as a partner and an equal. And that feeling was something she'd chosen not to dwell too long on.

"I had a stockpile of weapons that were stolen in Provo, remember?" Klaus asked. "The hybrids discovered it on the first recon mission. I want to try to get to the bottom of that if I can. If the vampires at the Salt Lake farm where the ones who found it, then we need to know that. Even if they weren't, we agreed it might not be best to make the trip in one day…"

"Right," Caroline interrupted to agree quickly. "We should find a place close to do some research on our own the night before we attack anyway. Provo it is then."

Next to them, Ridley was making her own goodbyes with Hope and Vale before offering a congenial wave to Ezra, whom she still didn't know all that well. Klaus must have seen her looking concernedly over to her daughter because he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Elijah and Rebekah would never let anything happen to her," Klaus said. "I promise."

"I know," she replied. "I know she'll be safer here."

"Not that _I'm_ too happy about it…" a voice grumbled behind them. Caroline whirled around to see Kol making his way towards one of the tanks with a cooler of blood bags and some other equipment. Clearly, he was talking about the fact that Ridley was about to be left alone with Elijah for who knew how long.

Caroline rolled her eyes only to turn around and find Klaus doing much the same thing. "Ignore him," Klaus said.

They had a schedule to keep to so goodbyes weren't too long. Not to mention, Caroline and Ridley had enjoyed their own private girls' night together just the evening before as a way to say goodbye. Still, this would be the longest the two would have been parted before, even if things at the farm went as quickly as possible. It wasn't a comforting thought. They were both already aware that they'd miss each other desperately.

Hope wrapped Ridley in a tight hug. Vale repeated the gesture before they both hopping into one of the tanks with Ridley a mix of the few vampires from the Waste and some hybrids. Kol and Freya took their own tank with a few others, leaving Caroline and Klaus to the last tank.

As Caroline tucked herself into the tank beside Klaus and a few hybrids and they began to roll out of the city, she couldn't help but spend a good ten minutes longer than she needed too looking out the back window at Ridley watching them roll away.

Finally, a soft hand at her back redirected her attention and pulled her away. It was Klaus, of course.

"She'll be _fine,_ " he reiterated to her. "And we'll be back before you know it."

* * *

Three hours into their trip north, the sun had already completely risen when Klaus and Caroline got a radio call from Hope in one of their other tanks. They were technically just half way to Salt Lake at that point but Hope and her friends were feeling stuffy in the tanks and wanted to walk outside for a bit. Since they hadn't planned on being there for several more hours anyway and not to Salt Lake till the next day, slowing down was no problem. Hope was given permission to slow their progress and she, Ezra, and Vale hopped out of their respective tank to walk alongside their progress.

Caroline, still not used to the blinding light or heat of the desert after her decades in Chiang Mai, was content to remain quietly inside her tank with Klaus for the time being — stuffy or not and completely willing to ignore Klaus's blatant starring.

For a while they'd just talked shop. As always, Caroline was the over-planner, wanting to go over everything they'd discussed a million times and more. Eventually, though, Klaus had tempted her out of the over-anxious state by having her regal him with tales of farms she'd taken down in the past. The fierce blaze in her eyes and the way her cheeks flushed in self-righteousness in telling these stories, even after all these years, had made it more than a little difficult for Klaus to stay on his side of their vehicle.

In an effort to remain safe, everyone in their party had constantly connected walkies on with one another and they could hear the endless prattling of Hope and her friends the whole time. It kind of put a damper on whatever romantic inclinations Klaus had either way. Currently, Hope's chosen aimless topic of conversation was mostly just amusing.

"Oh man, you've heard of Maila Nurmi, right? The actress who played Vampira?" Hope asked which everyone could hear over their walkies as the trio walked outside in the desert. "That woman is my spirit animal…"

"You are literally _nothing_ like Maila Nurmi," Ezra said, in her usual blunt way.

"And you say _everyone_ is your spirit animal," Vale responded with a laugh.

"I'm a very spiritual person!" Hope defended.

"Who else was there?" Vale asked aloud and began to list a few examples off on his fingers, "Anna Pavlova-"

"-I am a lot more graceful than people give me credit for," Hope interrupted.

"-Charles Dickens," Vale listed next.

"-He kept an _extremely_ regimented work schedule. I aspire to achieve that level of diligence one day!" Hope replied.

"I think you spend too much time watching old movies to ever be disciplined…" Ezra muttered, making Caroline laugh to herself inside the tank with Klaus. He smiled to see her enjoying his daughter's personality so much.

"And, of course," Vale finished, "My personal favorite of your spirit animals… the birds who fly into the Luxor."

"Okay, now," Hope defended, "I think we _all_ understand what it's like to be distracted by shiny things."

"How are you ever going to become as diligent as Dickens if you're distracted by shiny things?" Ezra prompted.

Hope grimaced at the expression, " _As diligent as Dickens!_ Uck, it sounds like a slogan for the Young Republicans. I take it back, Dickens isn't one of my spirit animals."

"The Young what?" Vale asked, confused, forcing Caroline and Klaus to exchange private amused glances with one another inside their tank at the fact that no one else was old enough to remember political jokes from two centuries ago.

"It's an old-timey political thing, don't worry about it," Hope assured him and they heard them kiss, making Klaus grimace. "Damn, you Post-Apocalyptic kids… you don't know anything about anything!" Hope finished, laughing.

"Thanks grandma," Ezra volleyed right back.

Hope flipped her off with a good-natured grin, "Don't tell me you don't know what this hand gesture means either?"

"Ha. Ha. Funny girl," Ezra deadpanned.

"Isn't your actual spirit animal very literally a wolf?" Vale asked.

" _Yes_ but… well, where's the fun in that? Do you not understand the game we're playing?" Hope began to ask when, all of a sudden, they heard her breath catch in her throat over the walkies. " _Shut up. Stop. Everyone stop moving."_

Everyone and everything did stop instantly, including the tanks and bikes. Their machinery shut off and everything fell abruptly into complete silence. Klaus didn't dare even ask Hope what was going on from inside the tanks and over their walkies, instead choosing to turn to where he could see out the tank's windows with some binoculars.

"Hope? What is it?" they finally heard Vale ask softly.

"Look, due north," Hope said. "Lions."

Caroline crowded beside Klaus at that note, grabbing a pair of binoculars to look outside the tank window, due north as Hope had indicated. Sure enough, a huge pride of lions, just under two dozen of them, was lounging amongst the sparse field of grass and trees that was beginning to pop up as they exited the Nevada desert.

African lions in North America? The only explanation was the dilapidation of former zoos from their old world introducing new invasive species into their apocalyptic wasteland. These lions were likely from some old zoo in Salt Lake City so many decades before. Thanks to the Inferno, nothing but the strongest were able to survive out here. It was genuinely shocking that they were stumbling upon this apparently _very_ lucky pride of lions, able to reproduce into new generations all this time. The whole thing made Caroline feel a strange and almost painful sense of hope.

"Isn't it amazing? With all of Africa engulfed in the Inferno, you'd think we wouldn't have lions anymore," Hope considered softly. "But thanks to the once glory that was American indulgence and selfishness, caging animals purely for our amusement, they live on _here —_ in the ravaged wasteland of former Utah."

"Wow," Vale intoned, seeming surprisingly genuine in contrast to Hope's clear sarcasm. "Makes you think."

Hope cupped her hands around her mouth to shout out at the lions, still at least a hundred yards or more away, "Welcome to America, Majestic Beasts! Be _free!_ For now you _live_ in the land of freedom!"

At the increase in volume, Klaus was rising quickly, to exit the tank with an annoyed huff. Caroline was left behind him in mild confusion on whether it was her place to follow or not.

"Hope!" Klaus growled sharply as soon as he'd jumped to the ground. "What the hell are you shouting about? You might attract attention!"

Behind them, Kol and Freya's heads were popping up from their tank, Kol looking distinctly amused as always.

Hope huffed in response, "Why does safety _always_ ruin my grandstanding?"

* * *

They'd taken a break then, all of them needing some time to stop moving and be out of the tanks. Putting up a few makeshift tents to stay out of the sun but still get fresh air, Caroline lounged _close_ but not next to Klaus while they and Freya all watched Ezra and Kol organize an impromptu game of desert soccer. Or _football_ , as Vale insisted on calling it, making Caroline laugh at how some arguments could stay the same for so long. Just when you would begin to think the apocalypse irreversibly changed _everything,_ a nostalgic reminder of the past was enough to make you hopeful for the future all over again.

The pride of lions was still sufficiently far out to view without scaring away. In a group as powerful as theirs, no one was worried about lion attacks. Caroline was just desperate to keeping looking at them. Even before she'd founded the Chiang Mai underground, the flooding and the Inferno had wiped out _so much_ of the life she'd used to know. Six decades in the caves hadn't improved her exposure to the once huge variation of life on Earth either, so seeing these lions right now was far more than a novelty. They were a reminder of what her world had once been.

Caroline couldn't help but tear up over the fact that Ridley would have loved to see these lions. And she was surprisingly comforted to find Klaus placing a hand over her own as her eyes glossed over at the thought.

"I have hybrids taking pictures," he said simply, seeming to intuit her thoughts.

They'd picked up to move not long after that. As close as they were to Provo, it made sense to wak at least most of the remaining trip for that night. With their tanks and bikes moving as slowly as possible beside them, the noise level was much lower and they were much less likely to attract any attention as they approached Provo and then Salt Lake.

Before long, though, the sun was setting. And, finally, it was night. They grew even quieter with the encroaching darkness, though Caroline could hardly think of it that way. After her time in the caves, a sky so richly overlit with stars and a glowing opal moon was hardly darkness to her.

Still, as they walked, the smell of smoke began to beckon through the air, promising an Inferno waiting for them somewhere in the distance beyond Salt Lake. If they got close enough, smoke would begin to slowly cloud the air making visibility a bigger issue. What they'd learned from their spies at the farm, though, was that the Inferno set to Salt Lake in order to wipe it of the disease had long since burned out. The wind could be carrying the stench of burning from many miles further north than they would need to worry about.

The sparse grassy area they'd passed through where they'd seen the lions was miles behind them now and they were back into desert. The familiar ache of trekking through sand was beginning to wear on Caroline's leg muscles; she was unused to this kind of activity or even this much walking. Climbing the slick cave walls of Chiang Mai in the darkness was one thing but this type of activity after so many years was foreign to Caroline now.

They'd already been walking in relative silence as dusk turned to true night, the only occasional sound Hope and Vale whispering together with Kol usually adding his two cents. Freya and Ezra were on standby to shush them as needed, knowing they'd need to approach with more stealth the closer they got to Provo.

But suddenly a noise caught Caroline's ears that had her shushing everyone more harshly than before. Holding a hand up for everyone to stop, focusing all of her energy on hearing.

Suddenly she recognized what she was hearing. The sick, slow drag of a sick wolf. It didn't matter if it was across the rocky floors of her caves or sand, apparently. There was only one animal that dragged themselves like that.

"It's a wolf," Caroline breathed, her eyes searching out over the desert for him.

"Hope, back in the tanks-" Klaus began before quickly being interrupted.

"-It's not like they can hurt me-"

"Now! We don't know how many of them there are!" he demanded.

"Come on Hope," Vale cajoled softly, before he and Ezra got back into their tank.

Kol and Freya and the hybrids all crowded closer, ready to defend the group against any sized pack. Kol had even packed his personal favorite toy for the trip, a baseball bat. As he swung it lazily at his side, it looked like he'd like nothing more in the world than to knock the heads off of some infected wolves right now.

"I can do a spell to light up the area a bit, maybe see them," Freya said but Caroline shook her head.

"There's only one," she said. "It's a lone sick wolf. Who knows what happened to it's pack. We should just leave it alone."

"How do you know it's lone?" Kol demanded.

"I can hear him" Klaus growled in interruption. "But I still can't see him. He must be behind the dunes."

"Seriously?" Caroline whispered back, abruptly.

"Seriously _what?"_ he snapped back.

"Seriously, you _don't_ see him?" she asked. "He's _right_ there. Maybe 100 meters out due east. That's how I know he's alone, Kol, because I can freaking _see_ him."

Klaus redirected his attention slightly and… he still couldn't see- no wait, there it was. Something shifting in the darkness. The softest of movements. Something humanoid in shape but animal in movement dragging itself along.

It was finally then that Klaus _truly_ understood how Caroline's years in the darkness had shaped her. She was still the essence of light and yet, she had somehow become a creature of darkness too. She was attuned to its every nuance. She understood it. Embodied it. Called it home.

If the caves had had that profound an effect on her physical capabilities — giving her a sense of sight in the dark well beyond the scope of what even an Original Hybrid could see — how would they have changed her emotionally? Klaus felt a renewed sense of needing to respect Caroline's boundaries. She hadn't been bluffing or evading a real answer when she'd told him she needed more time to adjust.

Caroline suddenly felt Klaus's presence beside her while Freya and Kol still fruitlessly searched for a sign of the wolf to make sure it truly was lone.

"Teach me how to see in the dark," Klaus requested, breathing into her ear in a move that made her involuntarily shudder in a way she hoped he didn't notice. He did.

In all his life, Klaus had never thought he'd request that another vampire _teach_ him anything. Much less, anything about the dark — _he_ was darkness personified, wasn't he?

But in her years underground, Caroline had learned things he'd not...

"I can't," she said with a smile, "It's not dark out here."

Klaus knew what she meant. After seeing The Black Lake, life above ground was positively glowing. As dark as it was out here for all of them, remembering the stifling blackness of that horrifying lake was enough to remind him how glad he was to be _above_ ground.

"Alright Hope, you can come back out," Klaus said into his walkie. "It's just one wolf and it has no interest in us. We need to keep walking the rest of the way to Provo, I don't want those tanks on. We're only about an hour out."

Leaving her side, Caroline turned to set forth again.

* * *

Approaching Provo in the distance felt very much like finding an old ghost town from the old west, replete with _literal_ tumbleweeds that blew towards them as they arrived. It wasn't an enormous town by any means. Any of its tallest structures had long since burned down or crumbled to dust, leaving only bare and broken structures in the darkness before them.

Walking through what appeared to have once been a main street of the city, under a still standing iron archway that had once served as a sign, the words and the majority of the sign largely torn apart by now. Caroline's eyes flicked back and forth between the buildings on either side of her, desperately looking for a sign of _anything_ as Klaus and his hybrids led the way to wherever his former stockade had been.

She hadn't seen traces of past American civilizations in such a long time… and then Vegas had given Caroline borderline unrealistic expectations for what relatively functioning condition it was still in with electricity and Klaus occupying several of the buildings on the Vegas Strip.

Provo was different. It was completely abandoned and obviously had been for over a century. If _disuse_ had a smell, this was it — dust and old ash and decay, built up for decades. Through every broken storefront or apartment window, Caroline was glimpsing nothing but completely empty interiors. People looting and fleeing had long since cleaned the place out.

Here in Utah, they were surrounded by mountains again but, unlike the desert dunes of Vegas, these mountains had once been home to massive forests. Since the Inferno so long ago, the towering rocky monuments now stood as beacons of still smoldering and smoking char. They were a nearly hellish background to the silent town streets they now wandered through.

"It's not much further," Klaus turned around to whisper lowly, "It's in that building up ahead. It used to be a hotel."

"Always a fan of hotels, apparently," Caroline murmured to herself but Kol heard and snickered beside her.

"There's nothing in hotels of any use to people or vampires these days," Kol explained. "When we first started picking out hiding places and stockades, we new hotels would be more safe from looters than… say grocery or electronics stores or even someone's personal home."

Caroline nodded. That did make sense.

 _Something_ just felt off to her. It was only a gut feeling — something Caroline was well aware by now that wasn't as reliable as people liked to believe — but her skin prickled as they approached the hotel anyway. With the exception of hearing the lone wolf, their trip up here had been mostly quiet. But the silence in this city was different — not just silent but still. Eery. Unsettling. Her stomach clenched in anxiety.

They didn't need to open the doors. Their glass had been all smashed through, allowing them to easily step through. Before Caroline followed them in, she cast one last glance behind her into the streets. She didn't see anything.

Broken glass and dust littered floor of the hotel lobby, breaking the silence as their shoes crunched on top of it. The empty reception counter beckoned them forward like they were entering some place haunted but no one else seemed to be experiencing the same nerves Caroline was in this moment.

"Here," Klaus said, walking towards a set of elevator doors. "Help me here."

A hybrid rushed forwards to help Klaus wrench open the metal doors to the elevator shaft. It was empty. Klaus looked up and down inside the elevator.

"It's stopped somewhere on one of the upper floors," he said. "Probably exactly where we left it last time. If we jump down here, we can access the elevator maintenance section of the basement. That's where the weapons were."

"Alright then," Kol said cheerfully, "Who's going down then?"

Klaus threw Caroline a meaningful look saying that he'd very much prefer it if she stayed above ground _and_ if she didn't start an argument about it. Caroline shrugged her shoulders in silent and easy agreement. Klaus frowned at how easy that had been but didn't dwell on it.

Caroline, for her part, was still suspicious of what could be out _here._ And she didn't particularly want to be stuck underground if anything did reveal itself.

"Kol, you're coming," Klaus answered right away. "You and you," he said next pointing to two of his hybrids. "The rest of you should keep a lookout."

"I'll come too," Vale said all of a sudden, making Hope look up at him in surprise. "I-if that's okay?"

Klaus turned around to look at Vale skeptically, sizing the boy up for no real reason that Caroline could see. Clearly this was some attempt on Vale's part to prove his worth to Hope's father. She might have found it cute if she wasn't so on edge.

"Vale you don't have to-" Hope began.

"-I want to-" Vale interrupted.

"-You can come," Klaus finished, decisively.

Hope looked hopelessly to Ezra for some sort of intervention but her friend merely put up her hands in a keep-me-out-of-it gesture. Freya copied the move when Hope looked to her next. Finally she shrugged before leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss Vale quickly on the lips.

"Just be careful," she said.

"What could possibly happen?" he asked her cheekily. "The place is abandoned."

And before their eyes, Klaus and the rest were jumping into the gloomy abyss of the elevator shaft. Caroline and Hope both peaked down after them. It was so dark that far down that Caroline was briefly reminded of Chiang Mai before one of the hybrids flashed on light in his hand and the group began to make their way down a darkened cement hallway leading off from the bottom of the shaft, maybe 25 or so feet below where Caroline and Hope watches at the elevator's last stop.

Once they were out of sight, the two women pushed back from the elevators and rejoined the rest of their group at the lobby. Freya was looking quietly out the windows with Ezra, discussing in hushed tones how different the mountains looked since the fires.

"Caroline," Hope's questioning voice rang out, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" the blonde said quickly, "Why do you ask that?"

"You've looked nearly sick with nerves since we got here," Hope said. "I thought you felt comfortable taking down farms…"

"It's not the farm I'm worried about…" she murmured softly.

"Then what is it?" Hope asked.

"I don't know, it's probably nothing…"

Hope made a gesture urging for her to continue.

"It just doesn't _feel_ right here. It's too quiet…" Caroline admitted.

" _Too_ quiet?" Hope asked with a soft laugh, trying to cover her own unease creeping into her voice. "Come on, this isn't a movie. My dad's hybrids were set up out here over a week spying on the farm."

"I don't know Hope," Caroline said. "In the caves you learn very quickly to just _feel_ when someone or something else is around you… because you can't always see it or hear it."

For the first time she found herself wishing Ridley had joined them. She was the only other person who could have confirmed if what Caroline thought she was feeling was legitimate or not.

Abruptly, a howl rose up from the elevator shaft and the scrambling of feet could be heard running back in their direction. Caroline and Hope were immediately at the elevator's edge trying to see what was going on beneath them.

Ever concerned with his own self-preservation, Kol was out first, _leaping_ the 25 feet out from the basement and back into the lobby.

" _Vervain!"_ he was growling and, sure enough, the skin of his face was brightly burned and blistering.

Looking down again, sure enough, Hope and Caroline could hear the familiar sound of sprinklers going off in the hallway Klaus's group had exited through. Someone had set them up to release vervain…

The hybrids were out next, followed closely by Klaus, all of them burning and yelling but healing quickly.

Hope did not leave the ledge of the elevator shaft, her eyes still searching wildly below her. When, a few seconds later, Vale didn't appear, she was on her feet, running for her father and grabbing him to shake him.

"Where _is_ he!?" she shrieked. "Where is Vale!?"

Klaus looked up, alarmed as his own eyes searched for the red-headed vampire. _Shit_ , he'd forgotten that the vervain would affect him more potently than either hybrids or an Original like Kol. He was stuck down there in the shower of vervain. Sure enough, they could still hear someone whimpering in the basement below them.

" _Get him!"_ Hope bellowed though she needn't have said anything. Klaus was already leaping back down into the basement. As much as he didn't particularly care for Vale, he'd be damned if he'd let his daughter weather any kind of heartbreak that she might blame on _him._

The second he did, though, commotion erupted a few floors _above_ them and then outside the building.

"Freya do a protection spell!" Kol was ordering as he surveyed whatever the hell was going on outside.

Caroline and Hope, meanwhile, were searching for the source of the noise above them. A mechanical clunking, like machinery clicking into place. They looked at each other with sickened expressions when they realized it was. Gazing upwards into the elevator shaft, the mechanical clunking was finally accompanied by a high pitched whine turning into a ear shattering screech. Someone above them had released the elevator.

"Dad look out!" Hope yelled at the _exact_ moment that Caroline screamed out "Klaus!"

He looked back up at them right as the elevator went racing past their floor. As it passed them, they saw its bottom was decorated by dozens of sharp wooden stakes. And while those wouldn't kill Klaus, Vale…

They heard the elevator crash to the bottom of the shaft with a harsh and unforgiving crunch. Caroline winced and saw tears begin to well in Hope's eyes. She immediately grabbed for the witch.

"He's fine, your father is fine," Caroline soothed. "And he'll have protected Vale. We'll get them out."

She didn't have time for any further soothing, though, when a voice rang out loudly from outside. Whoever it was, they were using a megaphone. Klaus and Vale would have to wait for a moment.

"Now, we know you have a witch in there doing a protection spell but allow me to advise against that," a rich British accent rang out from the streets outside. "You're not alone in that hotel. We've got people on the floors above you and our numbers far outstrip yours. We're not looking for any trouble, just come out and introduce yourselves!"

Caroline's heart caught in her throat. She _recognized_ that voice.

"Who the bloody hell are these people?" Kol asked, suspiciously eyeing a group of a few dozen vampires approaching them on all sides from outside in the town.

"I know him!" Caroline spoke up immediately. "Don't worry, I know him! I'll go out!"

As she rushed forward towards the lobby doors, Kol wrenched her back roughly by her upper arm.

"If _anything_ happens to you out there Forbes… you know what will happen to me?" Kol asked.

"Glad to see you're so _concerned_ , Kol," Caroline spat back sarcastically. When his eyes implored her more genuinely to be careful, she sighed and nodded. "I'll be _fine_. I promise."

Still looking circumspect and concerned, Kol released his hold on her and Caroline slowly approached the broken doors. Freya was standing not too far away, prepared to release a hellish aneurysm spell if need be.

"I'm coming out!" Caroline called first, "I have my hands up and I'm unarmed! Don't shoot, I just want to talk!"

Then, with her arms raised high above her head, Caroline stepped through the broken glass doors and back outside into Provo.

* * *

 _ **Please review! I'm super excited about the next chapter and reviews motivate me to keep pumping out this writing. These chapters take a lot out of me. I get so anxious to get to the "surprising" parts that it takes a lot of willpower not to rush through every scene and to keep it moving at a normal pace.**_

 _ **Was the recap okay? Helpful?**_

 _ **And, as always, thanks to everyone who faved and followed after last chapter! :) Glad everyone's still on board with this fic.**_


	21. Old Friends

**RECAP: Everyone makes their way to Salt Lake City to shut down a human blood farm. Ridley got left behind in Vegas with Elijah and Rebekah. Klaus & Caroline & Co. all stopped in a town called Provo along the way to find out what happened to a weapons stockade Klaus had hidden there. On their search, Klaus and Vale get caught in a deadly trap and Caroline discovers they're not alone in Provo when she hears a familiar voice… **

* * *

" _I have heard the languages of apocalypse, and now I shall embrace the silence."_ ― Neil Gaiman, _The Sandman: Endless Nights_

 _ **21**_

 _ **Old Friends**_

Lights were all upon her and, perhaps, if Caroline hadn't been stuck underground all those years, the lights wouldn't have bothered her. As it was, the moment she stepped outside from the hotel in Provo, Caroline fell to her knees in an effort to shield her eyes from the painfully blinding bright lights of their potential enemies.

"Turn the lights off or redirect them, _now!"_ the same British voice ordered and all of a sudden, Caroline could see without pain again as the lights trained upon her immediately clicked off.

She took a moment to scrub fruitlessly at her eyes as she knelt at the marble entry foyer of their former hotel, but her discomfort was quickly replaced by being wrapped in familiar arms in a warm and nearly bruising embrace. The familiar scent of one of her oldest and dearest friends overwhelmed her as powerfully as the lights had.

"Gorgeous, what in bloody hell are you doing here?" Enzo asked, "I thought you were still in Chiang Mai?"

"Enzo, you have to lift the elevator," was all that Caroline first responded with. No greeting. No hesitation. No warmth behind their embrace… not while her first priority right now was getting Klaus and Vale out of that death trap. "There are people stuck underneath the trap you set in the elevators, we have to get them out-"

"Caroline… if your friends got stuck in our elevator trap… they didn't survive," Enzo said, holding her at arm's length to study her critically, trying to decipher why she was _here_ and who had her so upset.

"Trust me. They did," she replied, resolute. Well, at least _one_ of them had. Of that, Caroline was absolutely sure.

"Look, Caroline, there's really someone you should see first-" Enzo tried to distract her, not wanting to face her disappointment when Caroline discovered that whomever she'd lost down in the elevators had almost certainly been staked.

"-It can wait! _They_ can wait, whoever it is you think I should see. Get the elevator back up, Enzo. Now!"

If Caroline had been demanding back in her time in Mystic Falls, becoming a ruler had exponentially multiplied that part of her personality. When Caroline Forbes wanted you to do something, who were you to say no?

Enzo picked up his own walkie before ordering into it, "Get the elevator back up and turn off the vervain."

The moment he made the call, Caroline was dashing back inside the hotel, Enzo right behind her. She ran beside Hope who was anxiously watching as the elevator slowly began to lift itself back upwards to a few floors above.

When it was finally clear of their floor, a figure hurled themselves up so quickly from below that it sent both Caroline and Hope skidding backwards across the floor. It was Klaus, of course, with Vale in his arms.

"He needs blood!" Klaus demanded before gently laying the young vampire on the floor. Caroline could see that, though Klaus's skin was quickly healing from the vervain burns, it was taking considerably longer for Vale.

Hope was at her boyfriend's side in an instant, biting her own wrist and bringing it to Vale's lips before placing his head in her lap tenderly.

As Klaus stood, giving Vale and Hope some space, he found himself _shocked_ to be quite suddenly locked in Caroline's embrace. She was squeezing herself so tightly around him that Klaus honestly didn't know what to make of it. All he could do was wrap himself firmly around her in return.

"Love, it's alright," he sighed into her hair, breathing in the scent of her, "We were in the tunnel away from the elevator shaft. Even if we hadn't been, you know well enough that regular wooden stakes can't kill me."

"I know, I know... I just-" Caroline cut herself off then, seeming to regain a sense of clarity very quickly. She pushed herself away from Klaus. "I'm just glad you're okay and that you were able to help Vale."

Enzo cleared his throat very pointedly behind them, making Caroline whip around in embarrassment and Klaus look over her shoulder suspiciously. Hope and Vale were in their own world as she healed him but Freya was glaring down Enzo like nothing in the world would make her trust him. Kol, Ezra, and the hybrids were all anxiously scanning the windows outside as more people from Enzo's group approached.

"Can't be harmed by wooden stakes?" Enzo asked, " _And_ you've caught Caroline Forbes's affections? I've heard of _you…_ let me guess. The Original Hybrid, Klaus Mikaelson?"

"And who the _bloody hell_ are _you?"_ Klaus growled back, before _leaping_ at the Brit to lift him by the throat into the air. "And what have you done with _my_ weapons?"

Enzo grunted out a pained cough, trying to give as little of a reaction as possible.

"O-oh?" Enzo choked out, hanging limply more than struggling back—probably a wise decision. "Those were _your_ weapons? Well, don't worry, we'll give them back, no harm done!"

"Klus, put him down!" Caroline hissed.

Klaus merely turned his head to the side, glare still plastered to his face, apparently unmoved. Enzo had to mask a smile though, even as his throat began to bruise. The moment Klaus had heard her command, Enzo had felt the Original's grip loosen ever so slightly.

Caroline rolled her eyes when Klaus didn't listen. "Klaus, he's my friend, we can trust him, I promise."

Immediately this time, Enzo was dropped and Klaus took a casual step back while Enzo adjusted himself and clearing his throat. The rest of the Mikaelson's were watching the whole display with curious eyes, though Freya's gaze kept darting suspiciously between their new visitor and his friends outside the hotel.

Klaus made a show of sizing Enzo up, waiting for the man to finally say something but Enzo just smirked, giving Caroline a look, asking her to make the introduction.

"Klaus, this is one of my oldest friends, Enzo… but, god, Enzo what are you even _doing_ here?" Caroline asked. She stepped between the two of them to approach her friend and the ease and familiarity with which she did so made Klaus seeth internally. _Enzo?_ Enzo didn't mean anything to him. Who was he to Caroline?

"Look gorgeous-" Enzo started _(and Klaus wanted to snap his neck right then but Enzo forged ahead despite the further withering glare sent his way)_ , "-I'm just as curious to find out why _you're_ here instead of in Asia where I just saw you five months ago-" _(Five months ago? Klaus's fists clenched by his sides. How often, exactly, did these two see each other?)_ "-But I'm not the only one here…"

"Clearly," Caroline replied sarcastically as she too eyed the group of vampires circling the hotel from outside, waiting for some word from Enzo.

"That's not what I mean-" he started again when he saw her glance but was quickly cut off when a door from the other side of the lobby abruptly slammed open. The group from the higher floors—whoever had dropped the elevator trap—had finally made their way back down through the stairwell.

"Huh, well _this_ a fun surprise…" an arrogant but joking voice rang out.

Caroline's heart just about burst from her chest like someone was trying to pull it out. _Holy hell…_

"Damon!" she shouted in excitement before vamp speeding over to him as he exited from the stairwell. He caught her in a friendly hug the second she was at his side.

"Hey there, Barbie," Damon said, squeezing her once tightly before they stepped apart from one another, "Long time, no see."

If Klaus had been mad watching Caroline with this _Enzo_ just seconds before, he was seeing red now that Damon Salvatore was at her side. In fact, all of the Mikaelson's had moved further into the lobby to watch them with calculating and uncertain eyes. Vale had finally healed enough to be hoisted upright by Ezra and Hope.

Over his walkie, Enzo gave out a brief order, "Everything's fine in here for now. You can stop guarding the perimeter. Someone tell Harper it's Caroline."

Hearing Harper's name, Caroline's eyes lit up. "Harper! Where is she Damon?" she asked.

"Eh, she's around here somewhere. She'll turn up when she learns you're here. Better question, where's Ridley?" Damon asked.

"She's not here, she's back in Vegas-" Caroline interrupted herself at this point, realizing that she was getting far too carried away in the midst of some awkward introductions and reintroductions.

"Las Vegas?" Damon asked, so thoroughly confused that he genuinely may have believed there was some _other_ Vegas at this point. _Why weren't they in Chiang Mai?_

"Um, yeah," Caroline said, distractedly as she looked behind her towards Klaus, who was still silently fuming and watching their every move with hawkish eyes. "That's where Klaus lives…"

There had, _very briefly_ , been a time in Klaus's life where he'd held a _moderate_ amount of affection for Damon Salvatore — namely when Damon had called him to alert him to Katerina Petrova's death… which had subsequently led to his most intimate moment with Caroline to date. But both before and after that, he'd basically always loathed the man. Currently, that feeling was only increasing tenfold.

A soft hand at the crook of his crossed arms almost startled Klaus. It was Hope, looking up at him softly. With her magic, she pushed out and into his mind — _Cool it Dad, they're divorced. Remember?_

It was a good thing that Hope had intervened when she did because it was right then that Damon chose to fully acknowledge his presence. Damon let out a low whistle of surprise.

"Klaus… well, buddy, how are you? I haven't seen _you_ since… hell, I can't even remember!" Damon quipped, making Caroline wince.

"How _am_ I?" Klaus asked darkly, "You mean since you tried to drop an elevator on me?"

Damon winced, "About that… hey, if I'd _known_ it was _you-"_

"You very well would have done it anyway," Enzo finished for him. "Come on, now that we've all established that we aren't going to kill each other, let's get to somewhere more civil to make our introductions. I assume you're here for the farm, Caroline?"

Caroline nodded, "Of course."

Enzo smiled, "We'll be lucky if they haven't heard us all the way in Salt Lake now that we've made this commotion. Come on, follow me."

* * *

"Have you set up traps in all the buildings around here? Or were we just particularly lucky?" Kol asked, speaking up for the first time as Enzo led them quietly through the streets while a small troop of other vampires with guns trailed behind them. Some of them Caroline recognized and others she didn't. Some of them she'd shut down farms with and others were simply vampires she'd seen a handful of times in different places across the globe over the decades.

"Uh, no. We set up a trap in _that_ building because we found someone's weapons supply and we knew they'd be coming back for it," Damon answered ahead of him.

"We assumed it belonged to the vampires up at the farm," Enzo said, "But it looks like we were wrong about that…"

"Damn straight, you were wrong," Klaus hissed bitterly, looking entirely distrustful towards the newest members of their party. "I've been building that weapons stockade for a long time and I'll expect each and every one of them to be returned to me-"

"You'll get your damned weapons back, Mikaelson," Damon sighed out in exaggerated exasperation that made Caroline wince. Now was _not_ the time to be baiting Klaus Mikaelson. "Don't worry, we have plenty of our own. Not to mention, aren't we sort of partnered now anyway?"

" _That_ certainly remains to be seen," Freya spat, sounding equally as venomous and distrustful as Klaus, not surprising Caroline one bit. It had taken Freya a due amount of time to even warm up to her and had ultimately only done so because of Ridley.

"We're both here to take down the farm in Salt Lake," Enzo said with a casual shrug, not even sparing the other blonde a glance as they approached an inconspicuous looking former bank. "Sounds like we're allies to me."

Their group had been keeping as quiet as possible as they progressed through the streets of Provo, genuinely concerned about attracting attention from anyone nearby from the Salt Lake farm. But the eerie silence of the dead town was once again broken as the door to the bank they'd come upon was hurled open and a squealing brunette vamp sped through it to throw herself into Caroline's arms.

"Caroline, you're _here!"_ a woman's voice shrieked, in such a familiar tone and cadence that it gave goosebumps—not to Caroline… but to Klaus.

"Harper, it's so good to see you," Caroline breathed out as she embraced the girl.

At that moment, the two pulled apart and Klaus finally got a good look at this new person. The brunette too, this _Harper_ , gazed back at him from over Caroline's shoulder with impassive and unrecognizing eyes.

" _Elena Gilbert…"_ Klaus breathed out, knowing almost as soon as he said the words that they could not be true. Elena Gilbert was dead. And even before she died, hadn't they all heard that rumor of a spell that bound her life to the Bennett witch's in a perpetual coma until Bonnie passed?

Picking up on the sound of Klaus's whisper and Harper's suspicious glance over her shoulder, Caroline whirled around almost only to begin promptly laughing. She really had to hold it in. Poor Klaus's expression of shock and disbelief almost exactly mimicked that of his expression when he'd first seen Ridley.

"Oh, Klaus, no. This isn't Elena-" Caroline tried to begin before her voice broke and cracked with laughter at catching sight of Kol's equally shocked face.

Giggling beside her, Harper had to step in and step up to reach out with an amicable hand outstretched towards Klaus, "Harper Gilbert," she said. "Nice to meet you."

Klaus accepted the handshake as it finally clicked for him, "A doppelganger?"

"Elena's niece and possible doppleganger, we aren't sure," Caroline quickly jumped in to explain. "Harper is Jeremy's daughter."

"Jeremy Gilbert's daughter?" Klaus asked, approaching the girl skeptically. "A little young aren't you?"

"I was turned at 25," Harper synopsized. "It was back in 2045, my parents were dead and the disease was out of control. My choice was to face the disease or turn. Clearly you can see what I chose."

"Mmm, well I bet your family was completely in support of that…" Klaus let the thought dangle as he gave the once over to this suspicious Petrova doppleganger or look-alike a nasty once over.

" _That's_ really none of your business," Harper spat back, making the Hybrid nearly snarl. "In the meantime, I think it'd be good to put history behind us, _where it belongs,_ and get to know each other now. If you're all ready, we've got space set up to talk in the bank."

The inside of the bank looked like it had been torn out and repurposed some time ago. As they made their way in alongside the vampires that had arrived with Enzo and Damon, Caroline only saw a small smattering of new people inside this apparent hideout. There was a bit of computer and surveillance equipment set up. Glancing over the screens that lined the back wall of the bank, it appeared that most of what they had set up was monitoring Salt Lake less than 50 miles away. One of the screens was trained closely on the former Salt Lake Temple, the massive building that now contained a human blood farm. On their monitor, Caroline could count dozens of vampires guarding the front entrance alone.

"Your weapons, along with all of ours, are in the old vault of the bank," Damon said to Klaus as he strode past the main room set up with surveillance to a door in the back. "I don't see what good it'll do you to collect them all now but-"

"-Which is exactly why I'd like to wait a bit?" Caroline interrupted, directing her question to Klaus out of respect. It was clear he was _more_ than on edge and pissed off right now, for a multitude of reasons. Whatever Caroline needed to do to placate him and keep this introduction running smoothly, she would.

"I'm sorry, love, you'll need to be a bit more specific," Klaus replied. "Why do you think we should wait, exactly?"

"Well, for _one…_ " she began, gesturing to the screens monitoring the farm behind her, "They clearly have had _way_ closer views of the farm than us. They have more intel than us. Two, we weren't planning on attacking _tonight_ anyway. We wanted to set up camp and go over last plans. And _three-"_

"I think you've made your point Caroline," Klaus sighed. "What could point number three possibly be?"

"Three," Caroline started, her eyes softening as she focused directly on Klaus, "I haven't seen my friends here for quite some time. I'd like to take a minute to catch up… and to acquaint them with some of my other good friends."

That hit Klaus more than he'd have liked to admit. She was referring to himself and his own as her "good friends." She didn't want to keep him or his family separated from her past. She wanted to integrate them,

"Alright then," Klaus decided quickly. "I assume you all have somewhere suitable for us to sit and talk?"

He'd directed to question towards Damon but it was Harper who responded, though her eyes were targetly trained on Hope when she replied.

"Of course we do," Harper said. "If you'll all follow me downstairs… Amanda? Jacob? You should probably join us to explain our post here."

Hope alongside her friends and Ezra's team from the Waste had been cautiously silent ever since Vale had returned from the trap alive. Now she was regarding this new girl, with confusion. Harper's eyes seemed to burn right through her but Hope knew with certainty that she'd never seen one of the Petrova doppelgangers before, despite the many stories she'd heard.

"Let's go then," Klaus announced, totally oblivious to Harper's pointed gaze.

While they all trailed behind Harper through the bank, most of her team remaining upstairs, Caroline had to internally cringe. She _knew_ that look from Harper.

And she knew the poor possible doppelganger was already signing herself up for some serious disappointment.

* * *

 **I apologize for this being a shorter chapter but I kind of needed it to be stand-alone for all the character reveals. We need some time to digest. Next chapter will get back into some history of where all of these characters' lives have been. The following will hopefully bring us back into the current main plot of shutting down the farm.**

 **#SorryI'mNotSorry but once you knew Damon was her ex, obviously he was going to reappear at some point.** **I know probably a lot of you are upset to see Damon again, period. First of all, I promise he won't be a mainstay of the story the way other characters are. He might be around for a bit but… eventually Damon is gonna go do Damon and peace. Also, he and Caroline are** _ **only**_ **even friends in the sense that they are allies in the apocalypse. They've helped each other survive a lot of serious shit… they've also come to terms with each other and their problems in a (hopefully) palatable way that will be explained soon-ish.** **Honestly, the more you see of their alliance now, the more their political marriage will make sense and become less disagreeable… I hope. Some of you are real die-hard anti-Damon which I totally understand but their relationship in my fic is really just a solid alliance in the face of the apocalypse and nothing at all romantic.**

 **Now that I finally got this tough transition chapter over with, I'm hoping to pump out chapter 22 of this as well as the next couple of chapters for** _ **The Mikaelsons**_ **imminently.**

 **Please review! Love hearing your thoughts, even if you have problems with some of the reveals. Predictions also SUPER welcome. They are my favorite because sometimes they are spot on and sometimes so off-base that it gets me jazzed to show you what's REALLY coming.**

 **I can guarantee, the biggest plot twist yet has not even sort of been dropped. And we will be seeing even more environments in this dire future soon.**

 **Thanks so so so so much to everyone sticking through the long waits! Getting this far into this story requires a lot of self-editing and re-referencing past chapters.**


	22. The King of Second Chances

_**RECAP: Caroline and the Mikaelson's met their attackers in Provo. It turned out to be Damon and Enzo plus a small militia also there to take down the human blood farm in Salt Lake. Part of their team is the latest Petrova doppelganger now turned vampire: Harper Gilbert, Jeremy Gilbert's daughter, who's making serious eyes at Hope. The two groups form an alliance and sit down together to make introductions, discuss where they've all been, and talk about the impending attack on Salt Lake.**_

* * *

" _To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart."_ ― Daniel Patrick Moynihan

 _ **22**_

 _ **The King of Second Chances**_

"Well this certainly turned out to be a surprising rendezvous," Kol murmured to Klaus, careful not to be heard as he walked closely between his brother and Freya.

They were following Enzo, Damon, Harper and two others down to a lower level beneath the bank. Caroline was up front with her old friends, alarmingly too close to both Damon _and_ Enzo for Klaus's taste. And she had the most unfortunate habit of knocking her shoulders teasingly into Enzo's every time he said something that made her scoff or roll her eyes.

"Do you think she's with Damon?" Klaus whispered to his siblings. "Doppleganger or not, she's identical to Elena and Katerina and Damon has always had a weakness for those Petrova girls…"

Freya stifled a laugh by covering it with a cough, "Um yeah, I don't think Damon is really her _type…"_

"What do you mean-" Klaus started but Kol quickly interrupted with a sharp laugh before biting down on his hand to stop himself.

"Really? You think? She's into girls?" Kol asked, his eyebrows quirking up. "How do you know?"

Freya rolled her eyes, "Your immaturity knows no bounds. Lesbians aren't animals in a zoo, Kol. And I can just… tell."

The younger brother let out a huff, "Judgey! I'll have you know I think nothing of the sort!"

Klaus grunted out a noise expressing his disinterest. If anything he was just disappointed to discover that Damon hadn't gotten himself reattached.

At the bottom of the stairs, Harper opened the doors to an old conference room and waited for everyone to file in. Ezra, Vale, and Hope were the last in while Harper held the door, sending a heated look Hope's way as the blond past anHarper shut the door behind them.

"After you," Harper said, gesturing to a chair at the table.

"Thanks…" Hope said, her tone laced with confusion. On her end, she was legitimately clueless.

"Sheesh, someone's sending you bedroom eyes," Ezra whispered as Harper went to take her own seat at the opposite end of the table.

"Really?" Hope asked in exasperation. She kicked Vale under the table. " _Now is not the time!"_

"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?" Vale hissed.

"Are you _serious?"_ Ezra balked at Hope.

" _What?!"_ Hope hissed back.

Someone cleared their throat, abruptly ending the quiet but noticeable little squabble. It was Damon, standing instead of sitting round the table, fidgety as always as he alternately leaned against the wall.

"So," he started by addressing Caroline, "Why the hell aren't you in Chiang Mai? Enzo and I had a bet going! I said we wouldn't see _you_ above ground yet for another decade at least!"

"Yeah well what about you three?" Caroline asked a broad, contagious smile on her face. "Last time you were in Chiang Mai you were heading to that aquatic base in Rome to make some more contacts, what happened with that?"

"We only stayed about a month before we heard rumor of a big farm back in the states," Enzo said. "Stefan stayed though. Wanted to learn more about how to set up bases in the flooded regions."

 _That_ intrigued Hope. _New Orleans,_ she couldn't help but think. Her hometown, now underwater, would never be the same, she knew that well enough. But somehow the idea of having _something_ to return to there made her heart _ache_. She wondered if her father would ever loosen his reins enough to let her to Rome for that kind of research. _Probably not._

"We've been here about four months," Harper continued. They were now all sitting on uncomfortable folding chairs set all around a makeshift conference table built out of cardboard and other trash. Rolled up or folded neatly around the sides of the room were sleeping bags where they apparently stayed for the night.

"Four months?" Kol's voice rang out obnoxiously as he refused to sit and began pacing around the bank's basement room. "And you haven't attacked this farm yet? We were only planning to stay here a few days at most!"

"Yeah well, we aren't _all_ a team of immortal witches and hybrids," Damon responded sarcastically with a glance towards Freya that Enzo quietly followed. So apparently they knew about this latest Mikaelson as well.

As Kol made a motion to open his mouth for some other smart-assed reply, Klaus held up a bored and annoyed hand to easily shush his brother.

"Before we all start snapping at each other's throats trying to combine the logistics of our plans for the farms," Klaus said, very diplomatically, in Caroline's opinion, "I _do_ think we'd be better off finishing introductions first."

Damon offered up a smattering of light applause and a low whistle of over exaggerated shock, "Wow Klaus, I never remembered _you_ to be the level-headed one. Is Caroline having a good effect on you?"

"Oh shut it Damon," Caroline snapped, her cheeks inexplicably flushing bright pink much to her dismay and Damon's obvious entertainment, "I agree, Klaus. Kol, Damon, neither one of you needs to be inciting any drama right now."

This time Damon rolled her eyes, "Wow, _okay_ Mom and Dad!"

Caroline could not imagine that her cheeks could possibly burn any brighter but they did. _Why were these little jabs so mortifying? It was just Damon being Damon!_

He must have had at least the good sense to realize how upset she was getting because he threw up his hands in a placating gesture, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry last joke."

Beneath the table, Caroline suddenly felt Klaus's hand resting on her thigh and it _almost_ made Caroline jump. But as quickly as she'd felt him, he was gone, shooting her a reassuring look that seemed to say: _don't let him get to you._

She felt a surge of gratitude and affection for Klaus, again astonished at the ways in which he'd proven capable of changing. 200 years ago he'd never made any attempt to be civil around her friends but now…

But it was Enzo's turn to be her hero next, finally redirecting the awkward conversation back to safe territory.

"Well anyway, you've met me and Harper. You know him," Enzo said, gesturing a thumb to Damon, "This and Amanda and this is Jacob," he finished, pointing to the last two members of their group downstairs.

"We were from the farm in Salt Lake," Amanda said, her eye dodgy and looking shameful, "We defected and ran into the group here while we making a run for it."

"Making a run for it?" Ezra asked.

"Generally once you join a farm you can't leave," Harper explained, "They like to keep their operations super secret. Blood supply being limited and all that. They worry people who leave are a threat to their sick setup."

"Or a threat to you, I'd imagine," Freya jumped in, "Why are you trusting them exactly?"

"We offered them a better option," Damon shrugged, "Either tell us everything they knew or they'd be executed as punishment for murder and participation in human farming. Though if you'd be willing to do a little witchy truth spell for us later to confirm everything, we'd be greatly obliged." He batted his eyelashes at her sarcastically.

"I'll consider it…" Freya replied, eyeing Amanda and Jacob with suspicion. It was true that were both all darting eyes and tense posture. They made the whole room more uncomfortable.

"So, now you know all of us," Damon said, "Who are the rest of you?"

"I'm sure you remember my younger brother Kol," Klaus started and Caroline couldn't tell if that was his attempt at dry wit or not, "And apparently you've heard of my sister Freya…"

"Yes, well rumors of Immortal witches part of the Original family have a tendency to travel fast," Damon explained, "And when you showed up a turned out to basically be a not-loud-mouthed version of Rebekah it wasn't hard to put two and two together."

Caroline was surprised to see Freya genuinely smile in amusement at that comment while Kol and Klaus both laughed aloud. Suddenly a breath Caroline didn't know she'd been holding released. _Okay, be advised Damon, don't try to play that card again, you know how loyal this family is,_ she still couldn't help but think.

"You're not our only guess though," Harper said next, staring down Hope down steadily, "You look exactly like the rest of your family. Hope Mikaelson?"

Klaus was watching his daughter with interest, disliking how flustered she seemed to be.

"Um, yeah, that's me," Hope replied, hating when she was reminded of her family's legacy. Though she owed everything to it, fame came with a whole host of unsavory complications.

Harper seemed to sense her discomfort, "Don't worry it's not because you're famous or anything," she said. "I mean you are, obviously, famous. But really I just know who you are because our families have a pretty long a complicated history with one another. I'm surprised you hadn't heard of me actually."

Klaus was _very_ tempted in that moment to say " _Yes and unfortunately the culmination of that history has_ more _than taught me that Petrova doppelgängers are always more trouble than they're worth."_ But, he doubted that would go over well with Caroline, who had already made apparent her affections for the girl… So he held his tongue.

"Yeah, so I've heard," Hope said, purposefully dancing around the subject. Hadn't her father and uncle Elijah fought over one of these Petrova doppelgangers? This was awkward on so many levels…

"And who're you two?" Enzo asked, gesturing to Vale and Ezra on either side of Hope.

"I'm Hope's boyfriend," Vale said immediately, looking straight at Harper but just making her snicker in the process. "Vale Flanagan."

A lot of people, apparently, couldn't help but see the amusement in that as Damon, Kol, and Enzo burst out in snickers right after Harper. Hope looked over to Vale incredulously giving him a look. The more gentle-hearted at the table, in this case Caroline and Freya, had to hold back actual winces. Defining yourself by who your _girlfriend_ was definitely _wasn't_ a way to establish respect amongst this group. Even if said girlfriend was Hope Mikaelson.

"Is that always how you introduce yourself, Sparky?" Enzo snorted.

"...No," Vale said sullenly, sinking lower into his chair while still glaring at Harper.

Ezra cleared her throat uncomfortably, "We're both from a small vampire camp outside of Vegas," Ezra interrupted to clear the air for her friend, "I'm head of the whole encampment, called The Waste. My name's Ezra," she said declining to offer any last name. "Vale's one of my best people out there helping us all to survive. And, yes, we both happen to be very good friends with Hope."

Everyone settled and Damon nodded towards Ezra in neutral acknowledgement, "Well, now that we all know each other. I guess we should discuss why we're all here: the farm. Let's start with the fact that there's a _reason_ we've waited months to go after this thing instead of jumping right in…"

* * *

As it turned out, according to the farm's two defectors, there was an extremely regimented harvesting schedule in place and four times a year they had what was called "a Breeding Season." Once a quarter, the vampires would be particularly busy trying to force pregnancies on their human chattel, in order to sustain their blood source for as long as possible. The outlined procedures were graphic and appalling but, honestly, not new to Caroline's experience with the farms.

Though this boosted her confidence that Amanda and Jacob weren't lying to them, she was still going to make sure Klaus compelled the truth out of them. Damon had appealed to Freya for her help but Caroline had seen people evade telling the truth under the influence of witchcraft before. Klaus's compulsion combined with his millenia's worth of experience in interrogation, however, was 100% effective.

After talking over the basics of what each group knew for a quite awhile, it became clear that everyone around the table was beginning to fade from all the shop talk. They'd decided they wouldn't be attacking until _very_ late the following evening at the earliest, so right now it was more important that everyone get something to eat and time to sleep.

"Well, you guys have been here for a few hours now and it's getting pretty late," Harper said as their conversation began winding down. "Should I go see what I can scrounge up?"

"We brought our own supply of blood with us," Caroline offered.

"Awesome, Vale you wanna come with me and help me grab some of that?" Harper asked, surprising literally _everyone_ in the room, namely Vale himself.

"Me? Um, yeah, sure," Vale said, standing up looking a little out of place. He looked back down to Hope, "The coolers are just in the tanks still, right?"

"Right," Hope said, wondering why on earth Vale looked so bewildered. Surely Harper just wanted to get to know him?

As the two exited the room Damon leaned in close to Caroline to whisper to her, "There she goes. You remember how she is. Harper's always liked to size up her competition."

Caroline shot Damon a look silently pleading _not here._ It was too late, Klaus from his seat right next to her had overheard.

"Her competition?" Klaus asked confused.

"Can we talk about this _later_?" Caroline hissed, pointedly but subtly nodding towards Hope who was, luckily, now engaging Enzo who'd stood up to stop between Hope and Freya to talk.

Klaus frowned. This was about Hope?

It hit him

A Petrova doppelganger had a _crush_ on _his_ daughter.

 _Oh yes_ , Klaus thought throwing Caroline and Damon a warning look, _they would most definitely be talking about this later._ Those Petrovas had never been anything but trouble for Klaus Mikaelson.

* * *

It was in awkward silence that Harper and Vale strolled down the silent and dark streets of Provo to where Klaus had left the tanks parked. Currently she was sizing the boy up fairly conspicuously and Vale was doing his best to casually ignore it. _Hot damn this kid is awkward_ , flashed through Harper's mind.

"So Vale, tell me about yourself. What should I know about you besides that you're Hope's boyfriends?" she asked, unable to resist poking a little fun. Even in the dark the boy's cheeks blushed as red as his vibrant hair.

"Well, I'm from Ireland," he said, his voice definitely somewhat cold towards her.

"Yeah, I kind of gathered that from the second I heard your voice," Harper joked. "When'd you relocate over here?"

"The first time around? Over a hundred years ago but I didn't stick around. I went back home to Ireland for another nearly nine decades before I came back to The Waste and teamed up with Ezra," Vale explained.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Harper asked.

Vale had to deflect his real answer. He'd first come to Vegas after being turned in the mid 2100's to find _Hope_ who he was already head over heels for. But she'd rejected him that first time so Vale had gone back home. Harper didn't exactly need to know that, though. Especially not when she was clearly already so interested in Hope herself. Vale knew what it looked like when someone couldn't keep there eyes of off his girlfriend; he'd worn the same expression too many times himself.

"Well, when I was turned in Ireland, it was because the disease had gotten out of control. Most of my family was already gone and the States seemed like a safe haven but after I got to Vegas…" Vale trailed off, evading the whole truth with half, "I knew I'd want to go back to Ireland eventually, to search for any of my family or friends who might have escaped the disease and convince them to turn. So instead of waiting for eventually, I went back right away. I guess you could say the guilt of escaping my own home safely while no one else did got to me."

"And did you save anyone?" Harper asked. "You said you went back for almost 90 years after you turned. That's a long time to stay on an _island_ overrun with C-Flu."

Vale's look grew dark and he paused a long moment before answering.

"Since being moving back here, I've seen more of the world affected by the floods and the Inferno than by the disease… or at least, by the time I got here the Inferno had taken care of most of it," Vale said. "That wasn't the way it was in Ireland. Everyone was infected. I spent 88 years of my life doing nothing more than… searching for survivors and putting the sick out of their pain. I've seen those final stages of the disease; I may even be more intimately acquainted with the look of it than any of you."

When he trailed off again as they walked, Harper waited for him to finish. Everyone these days could get easily clouded up in their own dark memories. It was one of the reasons why Harper herself had chosen never to stay in one place for too long. With no real sense of home, it was hard to ever experience the kind of grief and guilt Vale was now explaining.

"So no, I didn't save anyone. Not in the sense that there was anyone left to turn anyway. But I was able to put thousands of the infected out of their misery… some of them my own friends and family. It wasn't all time wasted," he finished.

"Doesn't sound like time wasted at all to me," Harper replied softly. _Dammit._ Vale may have been awkward but he was a _good_ guy. And now his story had made Harper begrudgingly like him. She could easily see Vale being the type of person she'd make friends with. _This was going to make things complicated_.

"Maybe not," Vale said, nodding. But suddenly his eyes flashed fiercely. "So what about you, then? What do I need to know about Harper Gilbert besides the fact that you've got the hots for my girlfriend?"

Harper laughed. _At least he can give as good as he takes it._

"Oh, a whole lot… for starter's, since I've been turned, I don't think I've stayed in the same place more than eight years much less 88. I'm what you'd call a Wanderer and I've pretty much seen the whole world at this point…"

* * *

After they returned with blood bags from the tanks plus a few rations from Provo including real food that Freya could eat, everyone grouped around a small set of campfires outside of the bank in relative seclusion to eat and talk.

Now that Harper and Vale had spent even a brief time talking, they'd both sussed out that the other was at least _okay_ and they were actually starting to get along. They sat around laughing and joking with Hope and Ezra, Harper now being much less blatant about her staring at Hope and keeping flirting to a minimum.

Kol and Damon had fallen into an easy rhythm with each other. Apparently when working on the same team, their personalities meshed well and they spent the majority of the evening working together to make fun of everyone else whenever possible. And Freya, with her usual tendency to be stand-offish, actually began to let her guard down in earnest conversation with Enzo.

Klaus, of course, was at Caroline's side for the rest of the night but she found she didn't mind in the least. Partly this was because Damon had the decency to refrain from making any further comments about them in front of the rest of the group. But, partly, it was because Caroline was astonished to feel herself so fully comfortable in front of these two groups of people. For so long when she was young she'd felt they'd constantly be at odds on either side of her heart.

And then, there'd come times when she honestly thought she'd never see Klaus again.

At times when she'd turn to him in the light of the fire, Caroline swore she could see the same thoughts passing over his features. This was a side of Klaus she adored now that she was finally letting him show it: relaxed, happy, almost _human._ Not to mention, she was growing more and more used to the love-struck way he looked at her; more and more _fond_ of it, if she was being honest.

It was upon that realization that Caroline stood up abruptly, "I left a bag out in the tank, I'm just going to go grab it."

As she excused herself groups of Klaus's hybrids and the vampires working with Damon were all beginning to fracture off and settle in for the night anyway. Caroline figured she'd probably picked as good a time as any to break off from the group to get a moment to herself. As pleased as she was to see her old friends, their presence had been a total and completely overwhelming shock and she genuinely needed a moment to take it all in.

"Hey! Wait up a sec!" a voice rang out behind Caroline. It was Damon, who vamp sped over to her in a flash. "What? You think I'd forget that you never answered my number one question back there? Caroline, you haven't left Chiang Mai in over 50 years! Why are you here and _why_ are you with Klaus Mikaelson?"

Caroline cast a cursory glance around to make sure there was no one within hearing distance before she responded, "Hell Damon, can you blame me for wanting to tell the story somewhere a little more _private?"_

"Fine. It's private. What's the story?" he demanded, looking so anxiously curious Caroline was starting to recognize the telltale signs of Damon's need to wander. He and Harper had _never_ liked settling in one place for too long and they were obviously getting bored out here in Provo. Caroline showing up here with Klaus was more than just the welcomed arrival of an old friend, it was something _new_ and interesting.

She rolled her eyes with this realization, but felt less pressure in recounting the story now, "We've actually only even been in Vegas less than two weeks," she said. "The infected wolves in Chiang Mai launched an attack… they were targeting me specifically. Ko, Hayato, and Ridley… and eventually me… all decided that it would be best for everyone if I waited it out away from the city for a few months."

"The wolves launched an attack?" Damon asked, looking most intrigued at this piece of news of all. "You always said they were getting smarter whenever Harper and I came back to visit…"

"Well apparently they've been laying low again ever since I left and expansion further into the caves was put on hold," Caroline said, reporting what she'd heard from the last time she'd radioed her home base. "When I get back we're going to launch our own attack to wipe them out from our caves once and for all."

Damon let out a low, impressed whistle, "Damn, well you know you can sign me and Harper up for that. Probably Enzo too, though you know he's never been too fond of the caves."

"They're not for everybody," Caroline agreed starting to feel like perhaps Damon was going to let her skip the most awkward part of the conversation entirely.

No such luck.

"But where the hell does Klaus Mikaelson fit into all of this?" he asked. "We haven't heard a peep outta him in centuries! I swear I thought he genuinely might have forgotten all about us but _boy_ was that wrong. All anyone needs to see is how he still looks at you to know-"

"Alright, alright. I get your point!" Caroline shushed him, again anxiously glancing around to make sure they weren't being overheard. "It was actually Hope who showed up at my base. Her friend Ezra, at her community in The Waste had been radioing us for months exchanging intel on researching a cure and ultimately decided she needed to come to Chiang Mai for herself…"

"But _you_ had no idea she was besties with Hope Mikaelson?" Damon guessed.

"Of course not," Caroline affirmed. "And the same way _I_ had no idea Hope was coming-"

"-Klaus had no idea she was coming," Damon finished.

"So he followed her," Caroline said.

"Oh man, I would pay _good money_ to have seen his face the first time he laid eyes on you again," Damon laughed. "Or your face for that matter."

When he started to laugh again Caroline punched him in the arm.

"There's nothing going on, I'm only staying with him for six months," she insisted.

"Sure!"

"I am!"

"Look Caroline, if that's what you _really_ want at the end of this? To pack up and never see him again? Fine, then just be careful because I look at Klaus Mikaelson today and he's just as in love with you as he was 200 years ago, maybe even more, and _this_ time he thinks he's ' _found you'_ again," Damon warned, making air quotes with his fingers. "But to be honest I think I know you better than that by this point Forbes and I think you owe _yourself_ more than that. You liked him then and you obviously still feel something for him now. If you aren't sick of being alone and unhappy or with someone who doesn't deserve you, the rest of sure as hell are sick of seeing you that way."

Caroline bit her lip as she mulled over everything he'd said. Finally she deflected with, "I'm surprised you of all people is willing to give him a second chance after everything he did to us and Elena in Mystic Falls."

Damon shrugged, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of the King of Second Chances over here."

Caroline laughed. That was definitely for sure. And Damon did hate to be called a hypocrite.

"It's getting pretty close to morning," Damon noted, though the sky was still mostly dark. "Come on, I'll show you to another of the buildings we've got set up to live in. I'm not sure we have enough extra sleeping bags to go around for all of you but I'm sure Klaus would be happy to share!"

"I do _not_ give you permission to make this a running joke!" Caroline informed him, trying her best to sound serious.

"I don't caaaare," he sign-songed back to her. "I don't neeeeeed it. Neither does Enzoooo!"

She rolled her eyes and followed him back into the heart of town. Despite how annoying they all were, it was always good to see her friends again.

* * *

 **I genuinely do hate writing a blanket summary of logistics before some big attack is made in fiction. I'd rather just have everything play out in real time when the action goes down and let things play out more surprisingly. Hence why their discussion of the farm's was entirely glossed over by an end-scene transition!**

 **Hope the pace of this chapter was alright. This was** _ **so**_ **many character interactions / introductions to play out that it got a little cumbersome to write.**

 **We'll get more of Enzo's, Damon's, and Harper's stories next chapter and some much awaited and needed Klaroline interaction. Before I get to that though, I'll likely update** _ **The Mikaelsons**_ **and** _ **Wrecked.**_

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed and followed as always! 3**


	23. Return to Eden

_**RECAP: With Ridley still playing it safe and practicing her magic in Las Vegas with Elijah and Rebekah, the rest of the gang are off to take down a massive human blood farm in Salt Lake City operating out of the former Mormon Tabernacle. Currently Caroline, Klaus, Kol, Freya, Hope and her friends are stationed in Provo**_ — _**a small town outside of the city. After almost getting caught in a deadly trap where Klaus had once set up a weapons stockade, their group was met by some familiar faces. Enzo and Damon leading a group of rebelling vampires and humans, also in the area, to lend their efforts to shutting down the farm. Within their group, we meet Harper Gilbert for the first time… the daughter of the now long-dead Jeremy Gilbert, possible Petrova doppelganger, dead-ringer for Elena, and current lady-seducing vampire who clearly has the hots for Hope.**_

 _ **Where we last left off, Klaus is alternately torn between being more jealous of Damon or Enzo, both of whom Caroline is still close to**_ — _**though with neither is she, or ever has been, in love with. Harper introduced the group to two defectors of the blood-farm, traitors who are quite likely playing both sides for the sake of their own survival. The group plans to attack at the start of the farm's "Breeding Season" where they force humans to mate in order to perpetuate their clean blood supply.**_

 _ **After making introductions and getting everyone to play nice, the two now-allied groups settle down for the evening, planning to potentially launch an attack the next night. Caroline closes her evening with Damon, explaining why she and Ridley left Chiang Mai (an attack from the infected wolves) and how she came to find Klaus Mikaelson again after 200 years.)**_

* * *

"You did thirst for blood, and with blood I fill you" ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

 _ **23**_

 _ **Return to Eden**_

* * *

Klaus got his first taste of what it was like to live in The Waste that night. He couldn't even remember when the last time was he'd stayed in conditions of this sort but it had been since well before Hope's birth. This group of insurgents of-sorts led by Damon, Harper, and Enzo were doing their best to stay hidden from the massive and dangerous blood-farm operating just a few miles away. As a result, their entire group was laying low in the one building they'd cleared out for use — the abandoned bank they'd been led to earlier. So, that night, they were all sleeping together on the floor, bodies packed tightly together, only a few of them lucky enough to be on sleeping bags.

Enzo, making a show of appearing amenable and gracious, had offered Klaus one of said sleeping bags but Klaus had immediately tossed it to his daughter. He'd been a tad worried that she'd attempt to share it with Vale — an intimacy he felt _sure_ he would be too uncomfortable to witness — but, luckily, she'd opted to tuck in with her friend Ezra instead. He did, though, get the distinct feeling that that decision was probably made for his benefit. Vale took up a sleeping spot on the cold ground nearby the two, merely covering himself with someone's old jacket.

Caroline, of course, had been offered a sleeping bag too but she quickly declined. Her decades sleeping on the cold hard caves underneath Chiang Mai left her well prepared for these kinds of conditions and she knew she wouldn't be uncomfortable in the slightest. Instead, she'd offered her bag to Freya who gratefully accepted. But as his sister bunkered down for the night, he could hear her squabbling with Kol who was trying to make her share.

Because of the crowd of bodies, it stayed warm enough in the abandoned bank. Caroline, as she'd predicted, was _so_ used to these types of conditions — maybe even preferred them to sleeping on anything overly soft — was conked out into a deep sleep within seconds. Klaus watched her for awhile, sitting up and leaning back against a wall just a few feet away, while the rest of his family, the hybrids, and Damon's team drifted off around him.

When he finally began to feel sleep tug at his own eyes, he finally looked away from Caroline, only to see Harper starring right back at him from across the room.

She made no attempt at explaining why she'd been watching him. Instead, she merely explained in a low whisper: "It's my turn to keep watch. Go to sleep."

He was prepared to grumble out a reply about not telling him what to do but the doppelganger had already redirected her attention after that. Knowing it wouldn't do Caroline, his daughter, or anyone else any good to be woken up when they needed rest before the big attack, Klaus decided to ignore the flare of annoyance and let himself settle into a light slumber.

He awoke several more times throughout the night, just briefly each time. Harper went to sleep at some point to have her post replaced by Enzo. The latter was later replaced by Damon. But as interested as Klaus was in monitoring their movements, it was clear that their only concern was on Jacob and Amanda — the two defectors from the farm whom no one trusted _at all._ If there was a time for them to run away back to Salt Lake and warn the vampires at the farm, this would be it, after all.

* * *

But though he'd allowed himself to relax enough to catch a few hours sleep in total — probably more than he needed anyway — Klaus awoke with the dawn. At this point, a new vampire he didn't recognize was keeping watch over everything while Enzo, Damon, and Harper all slept nearby the entrance of the bank, weapons tucked into their sides. When Klaus stood and silently began to stalk outside of the bank in the early morning, the new watchman merely gave Klaus a cursory nod of acknowledgement.

Stepping over top of the trio at the front doors of their make-shift hideout, Klaus was so lithe and quiet that none of them even stirred. Once outside, Klaus was pleased to see a handful of his hybrids making rounds outside the building, guns in hand, without even being instructed to do so. Immediately looking to him for approval upon seeing him appear, though, Klaus gave a short wave of acknowledgement before continuing his walk through the desolate town as the sun rose.

He wasn't sure what was making him feel the need to take this walk right now other than an underlying an inescapable sense of anxiety. Klaus Mikaelson wasn't one to be scared of a group of vicious vampires in control of a blood-farm — in the past, in fact, he may have very well _been_ the leader of such a group — but taking his daughter and Caroline straight into the fray gave him pause. Though he knew well enough from her heroic stories that Caroline was probably the biggest asset they had going into this nest of probable rippers, he couldn't help but worry. He'd only _just_ found her again.

Not to mention, Hope… though she was immune to most anything and had extraordinary powers beyond anything the world had ever seen, she was young and overzealous in nature. He'd need to have a talk with both the hybrids _and_ Vale before the day was over to make sure they knew their main priority was to look out for her at any cost.

Klaus had meandered over back to where their tanks were parked, now carefully cloaked in ash-covered tarps so that they would blend in with the surrounding char of the remains of Provo. He didn't bother checking on anything, now aware that his hybrids had been keeping their own watch over everything. Instead, he took a seat on the ground, back leaning up against one of the tall wheels of a tank to take in the sunset, trying to calm his frantic mind.

"You're up early," a soft voice from outside his peripheral vision roused him from the whirlwind of anxiety. It was Caroline. She'd apparently awoken when he had and followed him out here. "Good morning."

"Good morning, love," he replied, as she took a seat right next to him on the ground. "And don't worry, I'm always up early. Particularly on a day when I may be going into battle."

"I wasn't worried," she said, smoothing back her hair before leaning back against the tank with him, legs stretched out in front of her, "At least not about that."

Klaus quirked an eyebrow. "You're worried? About the farm?"

Caroline waved off that suggestion dismissively, "Of course not. I may not have had to shut down one of these in awhile but these kinds of plans only give me adrenalyn if anything…" She trailed off sounding a bit uncomfortable.

"What is it then?" Klaus asked, "Please tell me."

Caroline chewed her lip in thought, avoiding looking at him while his gaze bored holes into her skin. Finally she sighed before answering, "I feel like I owe you an explanation."

"Alright, love, about what?" Klaus asked.

"About… Damon," she responded.

Klaus blinked, trying to ignore the painful tightening in his chest. "The last time I tried to get more information out of you about _that_ story," he said, "You deflected me. You seemed to think you told me I knew everything there was to know."

Caroline winced, though it was barely discernable, "Well, last time, I hadn't expected to run into him out of the blue and… we — you and I, I mean — have gotten a lot closer since then."

"Closer?" Klaus asked, now _far_ more interested in pursuing this line of conversation.

But Caroline was still guarded, "You've done so much for both me and Ridley. You found me in that sandstorm… we're partners in this effort now. I trust you. That's all I mean."

On one hand, two centuries ago, he would have considered this amazing progress. She _trusted_ him? As a true partner in her effort — one taken on willingly, not by necessity. Yet now he found himself impatient for more partly, he supposed, because he could see something more was finally and truly _there_ in Caroline. If only she'd allow herself to recognize it.

Klaus's brows furrowed, not believing that was _just_ the extent of her feelings for a goddamn second but, he was curious to hear what she had to say. "Alright, I understand. What do you want to explain?"

"Well, when we first talked about my marriage… you tried to imply or maybe… ask? I don't know. You seemed to think that maybe it might have been romantic and I didn't _entirely_ explain that it wasn't. Only because I didn't think it was any of your business," Caroline said. "At the time, I thought I was just here to do research and keep my head down and… well, honestly, stay away from _you._ But obviously, that's not what happened. But either way, that wasn't right of me. I should have been completely honest about it from the start. Lies of omission are still lies."

"I agree," Klaus nodded, thinking that he told Hope that very thing frequently, "What is it that you neglected to tell me?" In truth he was _far_ more interested in pursuing the line of conversation about _why_ Caroline had felt the need to keep her distance from him, but he could wait. As long as she was being so forthcoming, he wasn't going to try to redirect the conversation.

Caroline sighed, "I'm always very defensive about my involvement in the Return to Eden project," she began. "Partly because people _do_ associate it, historically, as a terrorist organization."

Klaus remembered back to their conversation about Caroline's divorce they'd had the first night she'd arrived in Vegas, during the extravagant party he'd thrown at the old club XS. Ridley had practically outright excused her mother of being a terrorist and Hope was quick to follow. Thus, they'd abruptly ended the conversation.

"And I still don't know how I really feel about that," Caroline continued, "All I can say is that, as a result, I'm guarded. Eden _was_ a pretty religious organization, though. I said before that they didn't really care about your beliefs as long as you were willing to do their dirty work… And that was true. Unless you were trying to make it in that organization longer than, I dunno, maybe five years?"

"What do you mean?" Klaus asked. "I don't understand."

"I mean that if you were a 'good' and well-known pure Christian from the start, joining Eden was a safe move for you," she said. "But if they didn't know who you were, or _what_ you were, or what your background was… you simply became part of their suicide squad."

"Like that old film?"

"Like you were sent in to attack the failing EPA with the understanding that you wouldn't come back," Caroline answered, ignoring the reference. "Obviously I always came back alive… vampire, right? But just a few years later, because the disease was wiping out so many people, vampires were finally noticed: they were the immune. The Return to Eden project was one of the first groups to figure us all out."

Klaus nodded, "So then what happened?"

"The world is so _gone_ now… people don't understand. But when I was still fighting for it, I was fighting _hard._ Return to Eden seemed like the best place for me to be doing that. But eventually, when they found out what I was, I had to prove that I could be trusted… that I was different from other vampires."

"Different how?" Klaus asked.

"Well, it's no secret that our kind doesn't exactly adhere to the _human_ way of maintaining relationships," Caroline said. "Vowing to remain with someone for eternity means a lot more when eternity doesn't include death. It shows how loyal you can really be; what your trust really means."

"So you got married?" Klaus asked, "To prove _that?_ Certainly the heads of the Eden project were smart enough to know how easily a marital relationship could be faked. Even for the guise of fitting in… Soviet spies did it throughout the Cold War and so did infinite other soldiers in infinite other fights throughout time."

"Maybe it was also to prove that, even as a vampire, we still held the same values as the humans in Eden did," she said with a shrug. "It didn't make much sense to me. By that point in my life the whole tradition of marriage seemed antiquated and archaic. To be fair, I've always deflected people's' assumptions that it was a zealously religious organization — it lends credence to the terrorism theory, after all. But I'd be lying if I said they weren't Christian extremists. If you're going to work with 'demons' I guess it's better to pick ones who will swear on the Bible 'to have and to hold' and everything. And once Eden found out you were supernatural, your choice was to either prove yourself or be killed."

"So your marriage to Damon was forced?" Klaus asked.

Caroline sighed and rubbed her forehead in frustration, "No, not exactly. When I found out Damon had joined the Eden project as well, it would have been more than easy for us to find a way out together and that would have been the end of it all," she explained. "But we both wanted to stay. For different and personal reasons, sure, but we both wanted in nonetheless. We were passionate about what we were doing. So we agreed to get married, to stay part of the movement, to prove that we could be trusted… it was just an alliance that eventually became a friendship. It was never anything more."

Klaus nodded, staring at her with complete focus. It was unnerving but Caroline knew she had to be up front on this. But what he said next was not what she expected.

"To be honest, Caroline, the way you still talk about your time working with Return to Eden… you still sound — ," Klaus cut himself off here, not wanting to be offensive but also only having one word in mind to describe it, "Indoctrinated."

A mix of emotions flashed across Caroline's face in quick succession — mostly confusion followed by a brief flash of offense. This was _not_ where she'd expected him to take the conversation. He wasn't asking about Damon at all.

"Well, um, I'm _not._ And I'd like to say I never was," Caroline answered, a little terse. "What do you mean by indoctrinated?"

"You still call it a 'movement,'" Klaus began, "You acknowledge that, though you could have easily escaped the group, you decided to get married to preserve your status within the organization. You've told me that, by that time, you had not only begun to consider marriage an antiquated tradition but that the partner you chose was one of political alliance alone… I don't know what to say Caroline, it just sounds as if —"

"—As if I'm still proud of the work I did there and the decisions I made to make that work possible?" she snapped. "Well, yeah, cause I _am!_ And I don't see what's wrong with calling the Eden project a movement unless you're implying I was actually part of some cult or something!"

"Caroline, no, I just—"

She was standing now, dusting herself off, frustrated.

"Or maybe you agree with Ridley and Hope?" she asked next, "That I was actually a terrorist of some kind?" Caroline ended that note with a scoff.

"No, Caroline!" Klaus said, actually shouting at last in frustration, but grabbing her wrist exceedingly gently in comparison when she made a motion to turn back the abandoned bank where the others still slept.

Caroline's eyes met his, two flashes of blue meeting to reflect the same confusion and hurt and anxiety. Anxiety? Klaus couldn't help but fixate on the familiar look. Caroline was worried that _he,_ of all people, might be judging _her._

"You've just told me you trust me," Klaus said, lowering his voice and almost pleading with her, "Then know that I hold that same trust in you. I _have_ for several hundred years longer than you, in fact, if you need be reminded. Whatever you say about the Eden Project I believe to be true. And if you're proud of your accomplishments during that time, I look forward to when you can tell me more about your work..." Caroline seemed to have calmed and stilled so he cautiously dropped her wrist, wanting to make sure she'd chose to finish hearing him out. "I only meant that for you to marry Damon, apparently not even friends with him until after working together for some time, does indeed appear to demonstrate exactly the kind of loyalty Return to Eden was looking for."

He let his explanation hang in the air without implication for there was none. At least, none that he would voice. His true implication had not, of course, been that Caroline had done anything wrong in joining Eden. Perhaps that was true and perhaps it was not but Klaus found that point beyond the realm of even minimal worthwhile consideration. Whatever Caroline had to say about it was the only story he cared to hear; that was that. No, what he'd been alluding to was merely his jealousy. That her work in Return to Eden had been what had lured her into a marriage… and not him.

And apparently, Caroline saw right through him in that moment. She smiled at him in a way that Klaus swore he'd never seen before — and he considered his mental catalogue of her moods and expressions quite extensive. He couldn't completely place what she was feeling but the look made something in his chest blossom and ache with a new and startling intensity.

"Well, in the spirit of honesty, you're not the only one feeling a little jealous," Caroline said, smirking even as she cast her eyes downwards in an uncharacteristic shyness with him, "At least _I_ didn't love _my_ spouse, after all."

Camille? Was she jealous of Camille? He'd have to right that absurd notion _immediately,_ he decided and Klaus reached out to pull Caroline towards him right as commotion began to break out behind the tank they'd been half-hiding behind.

"Up and at 'em everybody!" Damon's voice crowed somewhere from the direction of the bank, "Today's finally the day and we don't have any time to waste. So someone find the Original Bad Guy and Blondie and tell them to stop pawing at each other and save it for when we're celebrating our win!"

Klaus's responding growl and glare made Caroline laugh. The sound had Klaus looking down to her in surprise. Right about now she would have been blushing and dashing away from him, if history were to be any indication.

Well, blushing she was alright, but not running. And she absolutely shocked him when she stood up on her tiptoes and leaned in to press her lips against his own.

Klaus was taken aback in the very best way but the instinct to hold her to him was instant regardless. Caroline was quicker. With another laugh she finally did turn away from him to jog back to the others.

Her hair flipped over her shoulder as she shouted back to him, "I hate to say it but he's right! Trust me, I want it even more when I'm high off of winning a war!"

Desire rushed through him in white hot agony before settling in his rapidly hardening groin.

Fuck Damon Salvatore and… well, fuck Caroline Forbes too. Preferably in very different ways.

* * *

 **I have a million and a half apologies for you guys but here's four, for starters. I'm sorry I've been gone so long. I'm sorry that I became one of** _ **those**_ **authors who makes you wait and finally give up hope of an update. I'm sorry I had to leave it** _ **here**_ **of all the big teases! And I'm sorry if the typos or basic editing errors are awful! When I had this finally finished, I was so anxious to get it out to you that I didn't wait for anything; I just posted. If there's a ton wrong with it, just mention so in a comment and I will give it a thorough edit tomorrow.**

 **Honestly the delay has** _ **just**_ **been because of a sudden loss of interest in TVD but that interest has returned FULL FORCE now that I've finally seen the last episode! I will be updating regularly again going forward (once every two weeks** _ **minimum,**_ **more whenever possible). So I'm back! For real! I promise!**

 **I don't know if I said last chapter that we'd be getting to the big attack on the farm this chapter but, if I did… well I thought this extended Klaroline time and a touch of fluff was much deserved after the wait. Rest assured that we have finally surpassed that long-suffered plateau!**

 **I hope the recap was good enough to catch you up to speed on where we left off and what's on the horizon. If you need some Return to Eden or previous-marriage refreshers, I'd recommend Chapters 8 & 11\. If you don't feel like rereading, feel free to ask questions in the comments. I will either address them in a private message, in the next recap, or the next post-chapter notes. **

**Thanks so so so much to everyone still here! Info / updates on my other Klaroline fics coming in the next few days, alongside chapter 24.**


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